Roses For His Romi
by AyaAkamatsu
Summary: Romi hates her father, a man that she's never met. She idolizes Edward Elric, the famous Fullmetal Alchemist. What happens when they turn out to be the same person?
1. Chapter 1

**Roses for His Romi**

I grabbed the burning metal doorknob, twisted and pushed the door in quickly. Cool air suddenly flowed over my skin as I strutted inside the automail shop like I owned the place, which I guess I sort of did. Tossing my plaid messenger bag into the corner of the room, I headed into the back of the shop, looking for any signs of life. At the mahogany desk placed against the back wall sat a woman in her early thirties dressed in a black boob-tube (as I called it) and grayish-purple sweatpants with long blond hair held away from her face by a matching bandana. I liked to call her mom.

"Hey, Mom," I sighed, slumping over into an extra chair next to her work spot. All of the tension in my muscles released slowly.

"Romi Trisha Alphonse Rockbell," Mom scolded me. I got the feeling she was glaring at me, even though she didn't take her cerulean eyes off the prosthetic metal limb she was designing. And don't ask why I have two middle names, or why one of them is a boy's name. I honestly have no idea; I think it has something to do with my father. Whoever the hell that bastard may be. "Where were you? I was worried sick!"

I cannot believe her. I told her three times this morning that I was going over to Ana's, my best friend's, house today for a bit after school. How freaking cliché of her. "Not worried enough to put down your wrench and do something to find me," I growled beneath my breath.

She turned to look at me, her bright eyes sharpened at me as she raised one of her eyebrows. "What was that?" she demanded.

"Nothing!" I snapped defensively, my golden eyes – along with my middle names, also a trait from my father – widening. I quickly averted my eyes from her intense stare.

"I'm sure it was," Mom sighed angrily. "So, where were you?"

"I was at Ana's house," I explained, "practicing alchemy."

Mom froze, like her bones were suddenly coated with ice. "_You _were practicing _alchemy_?" she asked, sneering. Wait, I thought it was her that told me I should try new things besides making automail, which I don't enjoy in the first place. Alchemy is a science, we are studying it in school, and I like it so how should it be a problem?

"Is there a problem with that?" I asked casually, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees. The smell of oil hit me out of the blue, making me cringe. Gross…

She paused, as if avoiding answering my question. "Well," Mom said at last, "I guess that's alright… How did you do?"

Does it matter how I did? "To be honest, I did alright," I admitted, beaming. I don't care about sounding self-centered right now, I failed at making automail so I might as well tell her I could finally do something right. Alchemy may be extremely advanced for a fourteen year-old but it's like I already knew everything, it came pretty naturally. "It came easily, I suppose."

"That's nice," she mused thoughtfully. Mom returned to tweaking with the steel arm lying on the desk before her. We sat in silence for a moment; I traced a transmutation circle into my palm with my thumb nail. Getting up to my feet, I stole a peek over her shoulder at what she was designing before heading upstairs. The arm was about the same length as mine, muscular but in a lean way, and slender; it was probably an arm for a man around her age. But I couldn't think of any of her customers that would need an arm like that. Brushing it off, I raced up the black spiral staircase in the far corner of the room to our loft above the shop. I locked myself in my bedroom, pulling out a pad of paper and pen and began to doodle random transmutation circles.

I smirked to myself. While I have them drawn out I might as well try to transmute something. I flipped to a new page and drew a new circle, placing it down on the floor. Now what to transmute…. I scanned my room, looking for material to use. I spotted an old figurine of a porcelain baby's boot that I got when I was born, according to my mom, and put it on the paper. Thinking of all the correct calculations and what I wanted this object to become, I placed my palms against the outer lines of the circle. A lime green light flashed quickly and the figurine shifted into a porcelain rose. It wasn't the best looking rose there ever was, the edges were rough and the surface was very pores, but you could at least tell what it was supposed to be. I smiled proudly.

Mom knocked on my door. The smile vanished from my face and I sulked to the door. Pulling it inward, I asked, "Yes?"

She stood leaning against the doorway, smiling at me. "Why don't we start over?" Mom suggested. "How was your day today?"

"My day was fine," I answered monotonously. "And I'm sure yours was too, you sat here making automail all day. Your dream came true!" Sometimes I just don't understand my mother; recently she has been more obsessed with making artificial limbs than anything. It's like she doesn't even care that I'm here. When I was little I used to think it was because she was lonely, that Mom just wanted something to take her mind off of the jerk she calls my father. But then I realized that she has me and the fact that she never started dating again, so it couldn't be that. Now I think she is trying to avoid me.

Mom stepped inside around me. "Yes, my dream has come true. Working in the automail capital of Amestris as a mechanic with my beautiful daughter," she exclaimed, planting a light kiss on my forehead. I sighed; she just had to through that in there, of course!

"I'm glad you're glad," I sighed, backing into my room to sit on the edge of my bed. "Is there anything else that you wanted?"

"Did you do this?" Mom asked, picking the rose I transmuted up from the floor, sounding excited.

"Um, yeah…" I trailed off.

"I am so proud of you! This is some of the best alchemy I have seen in a very long time! In fact, I think it _is _the best I have seen since I was with your father. He was very gifted too, you know."

And here we go. Now Mom is going to start gushing over how amazing Dad was. I had no idea he was an alchemist but I have heard many, many stories about him. "That's great, Mom," I groaned, leaning back into a massive pile of pillows.

She glared at me. "Why is it that whenever I talk about your father that you seem so mad?" Mom asked.

"He left us, why wouldn't I be mad?" I shot back at her.

"He is your father," she reminded my sternly. "You shouldn't be so angry with a man you've never met."

"Exactly! I've never met him, how can I consider him to be my father? Biology has nothing to do with this; he hasn't been in my life."


	2. Chapter 2

**Roses for His Romi**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Fullmetal Alchemist and most likely never will. Damn that sad fact.**

I slouched over in my chair behind the counter in my mother's automail shop, resting my chin in my palm as my eyes were slowly pulled shut. It had been the longest day at school that I have had the displeasure of sitting through, I can't believe that I didn't just call Mom at lunch to have her come and pick me up. My mind was cramped with an insane headache for the entire morning which resulted with my ears ringing for the afternoon. All I wanted now was to go upstairs, lock myself in my room, crawl under the covers, and go to sleep. But, oh no! Mommy-dear needed me to work the counter because she had important customers coming in to pick up automail. So, here I was, literally falling asleep as I tried to do my alchemy homework and work for my mom at the same time.

The silver bell above the door chimed as it flew inward. Standing in the doorway was a tall man who looked to be only a few years younger than my mom. His skin was pale, but not deathly like he had never seen the sun – it was a healthy color, and his face was framed by dark blond hair which he had pulled back into a ponytail. But his eyes were what struck me to the core; they were bright and big and looked like the most glorious pools of hazel I had ever seen. Overall, I would have to say that he was pretty cute. "Can I help you?"

"Hello there," the man greeted me cheerfully, stepping casually inside the shop. I smiled weakly at him. Leaning on the edge of the counter, he introduced himself, "I'm Alphonse Elric and I'm here to pick up an order for an automail arm for, uh, I think it's under Edward."

"Okay," I replied, fighting off a yawn. Cool, hottie and I share a name. Sliding off the stool, I hopped into the back of the shop. Pressed against the left wall was a bookshelf of sorts lined with black suitcases containing metal limbs that Mom created special for people. Checking under the E's, I found the only case there. The label read 'Edward Elric' with a tiny pink heart drawn in permanent marker after the last letter.

You would've thought that the first thing I would have noticed about the case as I pulled it from the shelf was the name, considering that I have been learning about the famous Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, every year in school since at least fourth grade. But no, right off the bat I was questioning why Mom would draw a pink heart on the name tag for automail. I mean, I know she loves it beyond belief, but frilly decorations are absolutely nothing like her personality. I carried the suitcase back to the front of the shop, set it on the counter and took the check from Alphonse's hand.

"This wouldn't happen to be for the Fullmetal Alchemist, would it?" I asked, tucking the check into the cash register.

Alphonse smiled, "The very same. He's my brother."

"That's so cool."

"Say, you wouldn't happen to be Romi Rockbell would you?" he asked, just as he was about to turn towards the front door. I nodded in response, too tired to force another answer out of my mouth. "Is your mom here, by any chance?"

"She's resting, probably pulled another all-nighter to finish the arm you've got there," I said. Alphonse's face fell flat, why would that disappoint him? How did he know Mom? More importantly, how did Mom know him? "I will tell her that you stopped by though."

"That would be fantastic," Alphonse smiled. "Thank you, Romi." The way my name rolled off his tongue made me feel awkward inside, like it was something I should have heard before but was alien to my eardrums. My stomach churned and my cheeks flushed. I didn't know what to say to him.

"Romi?" Mom's voice echoed groggily, light footsteps tip-toed rhythmically down the stairs. "Is someone here?" She appeared in the doorway and leaned against the chipping white frame. Her striking blue eyes brightened at the sight of Alphonse. "Al! You're back!"

"Hiya, Winry," chirped Alphonse, smiling happily. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too," Mom sighed, the corner of her mouth turning up into a lazy smile. You could still see the long to sleep in her hazy eyes. "Why didn't Ed just come to pick up his arm? I understand the divorce, I accepted it a long time ago" – no she didn't, she is such a liar; Mom still acts like she and my father are married – "but I am still his mechanic and it is his responsibility to get his automail himself. And surely, if you're here, then he is too."

"Nope, Mustang sent him on a mission to the north and he is arriving in Central tomorrow," Alphonse explained, his voice edged with a sense of protection, authority almost. "I was on my way back up there from Dublith while visiting Izumi when Ed called and told me to stop by to pick him up the order for his new arm."

I turned to look over my shoulder, shooting my mother one of those what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about kinds of looks.

"Honey, this is Alphonse Elric he's your–"

"I know," I cut her off; "we've met."

"Al, what did you tell her?" Mom asked suspiciously, raising her eyebrow.

Al's hands shot up in front of him defensively. "I didn't tell her anything, I swear!" he assured her warily.

"Then what are you talking about, Romi?" Mom pursed her lips.

"What are you talking about?" I countered, desperate for answers. What was going on here?

"Alphonse didn't tell you that he is your uncle?"

He is…what is…this doesn't make any…what the Shiz is going on here? "Excuse me?" I spat out, my mouth growing dry. "Alphonse is my uncle?" With the simple connections done in my head, I figured out one of my life-long questions for myself: who my father was. Edward Elric. A torrent of emotions rushed into my heart. Edward Elric was amazing, my father not so much. This couldn't really be true, right? Mom is lying to me, just like she used to do to get me to eat vegetables when I was younger.

"Of course I didn't, Winry, I kind of assumed that if she didn't already know that you would want to tell her yourself!" These words had Mom frozen. It was about time someone put her in her place.

* * *

"Why wouldn't you tell me something like that?" I demanded.

"Because I thought that since you liked Edward Elric so much that when you finally met your father you wouldn't hate him. I was protecting you." Mom folded her hands nervously on top of the kitchen table.

"Yes, you did such a good job of that!" I remarked sarcastically.

"Ladies," Alphonse – Uncle Alphonse? – cut in, "you shouldn't fight about this. Romi, your mother was only being a good mom. Winry, you should have at least told her who her father was, that's only fair to her." He rose casually from his chair across from me and headed for the phone on the wall on the other side of the room. Al punched in a few buttons and held the receiver to his ear.

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry," I growled. I don't know why I'm getting so worked up over this. I feel pathetic.

"I'm sorry too, baby," Mom apologized, playing the loving mother card. I hate when she does this, it makes me feel guilty. "I have been an irresponsible mother and it was unfair to you."

Damn right it was, I thought cruelly to myself. "Whatever," I sighed. "So…now what?" Honestly, I didn't want an answer to that. Mom will probably ground me for being so rude to her or have me help her make new automail, neither of which sounded appealing to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alphonse hang up the phone.

"I just talked to Ed," Al announced, "I told him that I met you, Romi, and he said it would be a fantastic idea to take you up to Central with me so I can introduce you two."

**Alrighty! The second chapter is finished! I apologize for the overall terribleness but I wanted to get this chapter done so Winry will be out of the way and Romi can meet Ed like my fantastic reviewers want. Love you all, by the way! Until next time, ciao!**


	3. Chapter 3

Roses for His Romi

**Disclaimer: Ed owns his pocket watch, Al owns a kitten, Roy owns matches (I'm watching Conqueror of Shamballa right now), Envy owns his miniskirt, but I unfortunately do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**Author's Note: I apologize for how bad the last chapter sounded overall, but I needed to get it out of the way. Thank you to all of my reviewers for not flaming me right of the bat, you guys are awesome. With that being said, on with the fanfic!**

"I don't wanna go!" I protested, slamming my clenched fists onto the breakfast table. My untouched glass of milk toppled over, dribbling off the edge onto the tile floor. Woohoo, now I won't have to drink it!

Mom sighed in frustration. "I really think you should," she said. "Your father deserves to meet you, at least once." Her eyes narrowed.

"I thought you said that he used to live with us when I was little!" I countered. "Therefore, he has met me at least once, thank you!"

"Don't you think it is fair for a man to meet his daughter when she is fully grown as apposed to an infant who can only sit there and giggle over everything?" Mom asked, folding her arms over her chest.

How can she possibly be siding with him on this? He divorced her, abandoned me as a one-year-old, and we haven't heard from him in years. Mom is being imposable! Edward Elric, despite being the amazingly cool alchemist I thought he was, is a worthless bastard. If he chose to leave us and never come back then he obviously didn't want me in his life, why would he suddenly want to meet me? "It wasn't fair for him to just ditch you and me because Fuhrer Mustang said so and yet he did it anyway." Alphonse walked over to the side of the table and began wiping the spilt milk from the slick wood. He is way too nice for his own good. "Thanks," I murmured to him.

"No problem," he replied, turning on his heels over to the sink.

"Now look at you!" Mom exclaimed. "You have your own uncle cleaning up after you just because you were throwing a hissy fit about drinking your milk. That is it, Romi, I have had enough. You are going with Alphonse to meet your father and that is that!"

"No!" I whined, restraining myself from kicking like a toddler.

* * *

A train's whistle sounded loudly, leaving the rusty noise echoing in my ear. I clutched the boarding ticket tightly in my left hand, a suitcase filled with two weeks worth of clothes held in my right. Alphonse stood next to me, his permanent smile not phased in the least by my sour mood. The train whizzed past us, my body tensed and I unconsciously leapt backwards, coming to a clean halt in the station. Al neared the edge of the platform as the doors slid opened. We stepped into the train, scattered clumps of people following us. Part of me wanted to turn around and sprint as fast as I could in the other direction, to go back to Rush Valley and hide at Ana's house for a couple days to give Mom time to calm down. The other part of me wanted to stay, wanted to meet my so-called father, spit in his face, and then leave. I suppose it is a little too late now to be making that decision. Alphonse found an empty booth at the end of the aisle and took his seat carefully. I sat across from, keeping my mouth shut tightly.

"Excited?" Al asked tucking our bags in the compartment under the bench-seat.

"Not particularly," I admitted. No sense in not speaking the truth, especially if he is family. "Why did he take sudden interest in me all of the sudden anyways?"

"I just so happened to have mentioned that I had met you and Brother wanted me to take you with me to Central," he explained. "He has been talking about coming back for you for quite some time now and saw this as the perfect opportunity."

I slumped over, resting my head against the cool glass of the window. "That makes some sense, I guess," I sighed miserably. Nearly the rest of the train ride was spent in silence, an awkward silence at that. Alphonse would try to strike up a conversation every so often but none of them every lasted more than five minutes. I dozed off for about an hour and was woken up by Al after we had arrived in Central. He handed me my luggage and helped me off the train before it departed for its next stop.

The two of us walked into the main lobby of the train station, escaping the hustle of the boarding platforms. It was still crowded inside, but not everyone was rushing around, they were at least able to stay organized. "There he is!" Alphonse announced, pointing to the area in front of the main entrance. I couldn't bring myself to start calling him Uncle Alphonse yet, that just seemed too weird. Scanning the group of people by the doors, I really hoped that Al had made a mistake and that none of the men over there could have been my father; especially since I didn't see anyone that resembled him or me.

"Are you sure?" I asked in a small voice, praying that he was wrong. Then, to my very displeasure, a golden haired man dressed in a blue Amestris military uniform emerged from the center of the crowd. He looked like an older version of Al with the exact same shape of face, eyes, and nose. The only major difference that I could pick out right away from this distance was his height; this man was a good two inches shorter Alphonse but much taller than both my mom and I.

God, I thought to myself, please don't let this be him. I don't want to meet him. I want to go home with the intoxicating fumes of oil from Mom's automail and school and my friends and everything else that has always been in my life, not with a man who claims to be my father and just now decided to meet me.

"Brother!" Alphonse called, raising his arm in the air as a sign for Edward to see him. "Over here!"

Edward, the bastard, dashed over to his younger sibling. A pearly white smile lined his face, his dark golden eyes glued to me. I scowled at him. This is positively pointless. "Hello." He sounded like he didn't know anything else to say. I have to give him some credit though; I had the entire four hour train ride to think of something to say and didn't come up with anything.

Al nudged my side, sending numb pain up the left side of my body. "Hi," I grumbled.

"This is actually going much better than I thought it would!" Al exclaimed cheerfully, clapping his hands together. Well, I guess I'm glad that he's enjoying this. But I hardly count two exchanged words as 'going well'.

Something about Ed's body posture showed that he expected some kind of a hug. What? After all these years did he expect me to react like "I am so happy to see you again, I missed you so much!"? Hah, yeah right! You can't miss something that you never had.

* * *

"So, Romi…" Ed, since there is no way in hell I'm calling him Dad, began, not bothering to take his eyes of the road. "How old are you now?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes, silently cursing Alphonse for graciously allowing me to ride shot-gun. "Maybe if you stayed with Mom and me you wouldn't have to ask me that question," I remarked cruelly.

"She's fifteen," Al answered for me from the backseat, "a freshman this year."

"Oh," Edward muttered, sounding as if he hadn't realized until now that he had been gone for so long. "That must be fun."

Fun? I don't think school has ever classified as fun. "Maybe for someone who has never been to school, sure," I said nonchalantly. That little comment was enough to pry his eyes of the road to glare at me, if only for a second.

"I have been to school, thank you," he sneered, digging his nails into the steering wheel. I felt I should have some kind of snotty remark to that but I couldn't think of one off the top of my head. "Ahem. I think it's pretty safe to assume your in love with automail like your mother does, right?"

"No." I hate when people think that; I am not my mother, thank you! "I want nothing to do with automail."

It struck Edward's body like a bolt of lightning. "Oh, alright then…any interest in alchemy?" I felt that I should tell him about what I did, that it was the right thing to do. But I didn't want to; he didn't deserve to know about me or about mom or about our lives without him.

"Yeah, Winry was telling me about it the night before we left," Alphonse chirped, "she said that Romi was learning about alchemy in school and she had even tried transmuting things on her own. She gave you all the credit, said it was your genes." Can he ever let me answer a question? He probably just figures that I wouldn't talk anyway.

"Yes, Al, we've accomplished the fact that I'm his daughter," I grit through my teeth. "I wouldn't be here right now if I wasn't – look at that statement any way you want. But we don't have to keep bringing it up. I guess I should be honest; I don't want to be here. I didn't want to meet you at all; my life could have gone on perfectly fine without you. So you can wait to play the daddy act until Mom comes to take me home." This struck a cord, thank god. He finally reacted in the way a normal person would.

"Romi, I know where you're coming from, I really do. But, even so, that doesn't give you the right to treat me like the bastard Winry has you thinking I am!"

"Oh look, Brother!" Al cut me off, just as I had opened my mouth to yell. "We're here!" I turned my head to look out the window. The car had been parked on the curb in front of Central Command. Take your kid to work day, I believe it's called?

_Way to make my day, Daddy, _I thought sarcastically, shooting a death glare at him.

**Well that's done. I feel bad because it took me longer than expected to write this chapter. I think I have Al's character pretty much down but since I am writing from his child's POV, Ed might seem a little bit OOC and I deeply apologize for that. It will get better though, especially after he and Romi come to better terms. Thank you to those wonderful authors that reviewed me, you guys are fantastic!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Roses for His Romi**

**Author's Note: I, like my lovely reviewers, am starting to hate my OC. My plot started out alright, I suppose, and then it turned into one big rant on Romi's part. *tear* Anyways, I promise that I will try to change her attitude from bitchy to just stubborn.**

**Disclaimer: nothing witty today, I simply don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

"Romi, do you think you could possibly behave yourself for fifteen minutes?" Edward asked, pausing just before the door to the Fuhrer's office. I shrugged, having decided to stay quiet after stirring enough trouble on the car ride here. He took my answer and opened the door to lead Alphonse and me inside.

"Why, hello there, Fullmetal," the raven-haired man sitting behind the desk in front of the windows on the opposite side of the room greeted Ed. I had seen pictures of Fuhrer Mustang before but I never figured he could look this attractive in person, even if he was at least twenty years older than me. "Good to see you again."

"I'm sure it is," Edward said. He sounded bored, and not only bored but sarcastic too.

"You too, Alphonse," Mustang added, nodding in my uncle's direction. Then his deep-set coal black eyes were set on me, wandering over me several times before speaking up. "And she would be…?"

"This is Romi Rockbell," Edward introduced me, "Winry Rockbell's daughter." I just love how he doesn't say I'm his daughter. Of course, we hadn't gotten off to a good start so I wouldn't expect him to in the first place.

"Brother," Alphonse scolded, tapping Edward's shoulder lightly.

Ed growled, "Let me rephrase that. This is Romi Rockbell, she's my daughter."

Fuhrer Mustang smirked. "You mean your precious little angel that you abandoned as a toddler at my call?" he asked mockingly. I blushed, wondering if my father had actually said that. Mustang was clearly using that voice to imitate Edward.

"Yeah," Ed muttered, "her." I'm starting to see where I get my attitude from now.

"Romi, why don't we go back outside and wait for Brother by the car?" Al suggested, reaching back to open the door for me. I followed him back into the hallway, escaping the awkward aura that hung around in the office air. "Well, that couldn't be a good thing to hear."

"Not at all," I sighed, trailing closely behind at his heels towards the stairwell. "I guess I deserved it, though. Neither of us was very nice to each other."

"That's true. But Brother is the adult in the situation; he should have acted a little bit more maturely." Agreeing to that, as much as I would have like to, would have only landed me in a bad spot. "Did you think that if you were that irritating to him that he would send you home, or something?"

I wish I would have thought of a plan like that. "No…" I trailed off, keeping the 'I'm just a bitch' part of the sentence to myself.

"You're not terrible, Romi," Alphonse assured, like he had been reading my mind. I got the annoying feeling in the back of my head that he was lying to me. "But you could try giving Brother another chance; I know he would like that." Al being the voice of reason here was much better than Ed trying to be, I could put up with it this way.

"I should," I admitted, sighed. Alphonse opened the door for me; I stepped out into the fresh air. "Thanks." I could feel in the pit of my stomach that my guilt was starting to catch up with me…

* * *

"Al said that he talked to you earlier."

"What about it?"

"Nothing," he replied, sitting on the edge of my bed. I bolted straight up, staring at him in shock.

"You wouldn't have asked if it was really nothing," I countered. "Seriously, why do you need to know?"

"I'm your father. I believe that I have a right to know."

"You're going to start with that again?" I don't want to listen to another speech about this, today had to have been one of the worst days of my life and I would prefer he didn't make it any worse. He must think that he should catch up for lost years of father-hood and being the authority figure in my life or something. Which is extremely ridiculous, if I do say so myself.

"No. I was going to apologize, actually. I shouldn't have talked about you like that to Mustang. It's just that he gets me in such a bad mood–"

"I know the type," I cut him off.

"Yeah, but anyways…that's about It." Along with my attitude, I can now see where I get my amazing way with words from. Mom always blames him for my tiny little flaws and I've only matched up two of them.

"This idea for you to meet me is going really well, by the way," I said, sarcasm edging my voice. "But, now that you've got me here for the next thirteen days, what exactly do you plan on doing?"

"I just figured I could get to know you before your mother bites my head off for leaving and taking you away again. Whatever you want to do is fine by me, as long as you don't tinker with my automail."

"Did you not hear me when I said that I don't want anything to do with automail? Alchemy, as terrible as I am at it, has more of my interest than becoming a mechanic does."

"That's good for me to hear," Ed smirked. Even if we are on better grounds now, there is still no way that I am recognizing him as my dad. Half of a word stumbled awkwardly out of his mouth. I didn't catch what it was until he started over, "I could teach you alchemy if you'd like."

That would have been the coolest thing ever, except for the fact that he is my father. "No," I sighed monotonously. "Thanks though."

Something about the gleam in his sad eyes as he walked out of the bedroom pierced me straight through the heart, making me feel uneasy. It was a look that obviously made sure I wasn't going to be able to sleep without some kind of nightmare tonight.

**WOO! That is finally done. I felt I should redeem Romi a little bit in this chapter because I didn't want her to be a hated OC. So now that her annoying 'I hate everything so shut the fuck up' phase is over I can get on with writing the plot. And I cannot stress this enough, thank you to all of my reviewers. Even if some of them are flames, they were still good to hear. TTFN, ta ta for now!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Roses for His Romi**

**Author's Note: phew, those horrid chapters are over-with! Ed and his daughter have come to better terms, Romi isn't a raging bitch anymore – even if it was only for a chapter or so – and now all is right with the world of my fanfiction. I just realized after rereading my last chapter that I made Mustang sound like a total jerk, oh well. My next few chapters will probably just be fillers, a heads-up for my readers. I need a bit more time until I bring in the main antagonist. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist was not created by me. Though, I really wish I was that creative and brilliant.**

It was one of those dreams where you shouldn't be scared, yet I was anyways. I felt small and powerless and I didn't even know what was going on, really. The guy was a freaking palm tree, for crying out loud!

_ "Go ahead, Romi, see what'll happen," taunted the hermaphrodite, smirking sadistically. I snarled at him, my top lip curling up. I wanted to lunge, to take him down to the ground and pound him into a pulp, but even alchemy did nothing against this guy so it would be a waist of my time and energy. I would be the one who ended up getting hurt._

_ "Shut up, Envy!" I shot back at him, shooting him a death glare. I didn't know where the name came from, it just rolled out with the other words. I crouched forwards, my eyes narrowed and my hands flexed. Pale moonlight glinted off of the blood that coated Envy's hands, mocking my failure._

_ He darted behind me, snatching my wrists to hold them behind my back. "And how do you plan on making me?" he purred in my ear, yanking my head back by my ponytail to rest on his shoulder. "You're just a little girl, the pipsqueak's useless daughter!"_

_ I drew in a sharp breath, one crisp enough to sting my throat. "Not useless," I growled, wishing desperately that I could do something besides stand here helpless. "Don't you dare call me useless."_

_ "I'll say whatever I want!" Envy's nail dragged against the back of my neck, slitting my slitting my skin down to the arch of my shoulder. Warm liquid began to soak my shirt and the cut stung like hell, it felt like needles stabbing my muscles._

_ "Romi!" One flesh and one automail arm were trying to pry me away from Envy as I began to slip from consciousness._

"Romi! Romi, wake up!" Ed demanded, shaking me by my shoulders. I opened my eyes lazily, fighting to keep them from being closed together again. His face hovered inches above mine, golden eyes wide with panic. "What are you screaming about in here?"

"Brother, be a little sympathetic," Alphonse scolded him quietly from an unknown corner of the room. "Romi probably had a nightmare."

"Of course it was a nightmare, Al!" Edward shot back at his brother as he sat back, slouching over, allowing me room to sit upright. "She was screaming 'Don't let Envy hurt me!' Now does that sound like anything other than a nightmare to you?"

"You haven't talked to her about the homunculi, have you?" Al asked curiously.

I sighed, feeling incredibly stupid for waking them up. Glancing over at my alarm clock, I was nearly blinded by the neon green numbers that read 6:19. Ugh, I don't even get up this early for school. "Look, I'm sorry for waking you two up but it is way to early to be alive! Can I go back to sleep?" I mumbled.

"Yeah," Ed sighed, "Sure you can."

Once they were out in the hallway and had closed the doors behind them, I realized that I didn't really want to go back to sleep. There was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that told me Envy was going to be a reoccurring nightmare. I lay in bed for over two hours, not once falling back asleep. Everything about me felt empty and awkward. I shouldn't be having this feeling. If I had just been smart and called Mom to pick me up from school I wouldn't have met Al who wouldn't have taken me here to meet Ed and I wouldn't be filled with this terrible feeling.

Rubbing my eyes, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed to skim the wood floor. It was about time I got off my lazy ass and actually did something. Not that I knew what I was going to do in the first place. The apartment's living room was freezing; I don't know how either of them could stand it in here!

"Good morning, Romi!" Al greeted happily from his spot at the table across from the kitchen tucked into the corner across from my bedroom. I almost didn't see Edward sitting next to him; he was hidden behind a two-foot tall stack of paperwork. Ha, he has to do homework on a weekend! "What do you want for breakfast?"

"I'm not really that hungry," I lied. My stomach rumbled, giving me away.

"I'll make some French toast then."

I tip-toed over to the table and slid into the seat across from Ed. The look on his face showed absolute concentration, like nothing could pull his attention away from whatever he was reading. I drummed my fingers against the glass countertop, making up a simple song as I went along. Then I began to tap my foot on the floor. So he wasn't a morning person? That's funny; Mom always tries to start a conversation after I wake up. Not that I'm a morning person either but I am normally up earlier than this at home.

"Having fun?" I asked quietly after a moment. The silence was killing me. He mumbled in reply. "You mentioned something about homunculi this morning. I was wondering what those were." Images of Envy sprang into my head. I didn't know I could come up with someone as scary as he/it was.

"You've been here for just over twenty-four hours and you're already asking me these types of questions?" Ed asked, not raising his eyes from the paperwork. "You really are your mother." I wasn't sure whether I should take that as an insult or not. "Anyways, homunculi are man-made people. They're created by alchemy."

"I still have nightmares about Gluttony," Al confessed from his place over the stove, flipping over a piece of French toast. "Wrath turned out to be really nice though, he was cool."

They _were _named after the seven deadly sins! "Who was Envy?" I knew it was the wrong thing to ask as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

"The hermaphrodite palm tree with the creepy sadistic smile that always called me a pipsqueak," Edward growled. "I am not a pipsqueak! I am full-sized now!"

"Of course you are, Brother."

"And these homunculi were who you fought when you younger?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm sure you know that Al's soul was bound to that suit of armor, since they teach that in all of the history books now. They were the only things standing in our way of getting his body back."

One final question lingered in my mind: how on earth could I possibly know who Envy was prior to this conversation. My nightmares are usually easy to decipher, easy to figure out. This one had me confused beyond belief.

**Alright, I had no idea what to do with this chapter; I just needed it out of the way. Don't flame it please, I already know it's terrible. It had no purpose until halfway through when I realized what I could do with it. Until the real plot begins, adieu!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Roses for His Romi**

**Author's Note: I apologize for not updating lately but my nights have been packed with homework. The plot that will keep this story going actually begins in this chapter. Yay! And before I forget, I have a question for any of my readers/amazing reviewers: what would you do if you saw Edward and Alphonse Elric walk up to your front door? If you're going to answer, please be serious. So that means no fangirling unless you really are that insane. My friend and I had a two hour conversation about this and I'm curious for other answers.**

**Disclaimer: Je ne possede pas Fullmetal Alchemist! (It's French; just take a wild guess at what it says.)**

"I accuse Colonel Mustard in the kitchen with the revolver!" I exclaimed, crumpling the thin slip of paper in my hand. Alphonse took the three cards out of the tiny envelope, revealing my accusation to be true. "Hah! I called it!"

Al sighed, rolling his eyes at he smiled at me. "Yes, that is the point of the game, Romi," he laughed freely. He began to fold up the board and place the pieces neatly back inside their box. The front door of the apartment slammed, we immediately knew that Ed was home. "Hello, Brother!"

"Hi, Al," Edward sighed. He stripped himself of his military jacket, threw it onto the couch, and used it as a pillow as he lay down. "I swear, if I have to put up with Mustang one more day…"

"Why don't you quit already?" I offered, raising an eyebrow as I turned to look over my shoulder at him. Ed grumbled, ignoring answering me. "Considering how much you complain about him, it sounds like a good idea to me."

"If only it were that easy."

"Romi and I were saying how nice it would be to take you out to dinner tonight," Alphonse explained. I turned back to give him a look that clearly said 'we were?' He nodded and continued. "Does that sound good? Or are you too tired from work?"

Ed rolled over onto his back, his golden eyes locked on the ceiling. "Well, I'm not _that _tired," he decided.

With that, we freshened ourselves up – Edward happily changing into casual clothes – and took off for the heart of the city. Apparently, there was some grand opening of a new restaurant that Al was just dying to go to. Ed told me on the way there that ever since Alphonse got his body back he has been in love with food. I found that quite hard to believe considering that he was so fit but didn't say anything against it. About an hour later, we arrived at said restaurant. It was small, with only about ten tables inside. There was a bar counter in the back to hide the kitchen in the back. The walls were painted deep maroon, accented with gold and mahogany. By the looks of it, it seemed like a nice evening café.

"Hello," greeted a young woman, probably in her twenties, with bright green eyes and sandy blond hair tied in a bun at the base of her head. She had a slim name tag pinned to her shirt that read 'owner'. "Welcome to Kings' Run Café, I'm Elysia Hughes. Will it just be the three of you tonight?"

"Fancy seeing you here, Elysia," Ed smiled, reaching out to shake her hand. "Yes, it'll just be us three."

"Right this way." She gestured to one of the tables in the back before adding, "Mr. Fullmetal." We followed her to our table. I took the seat with my back to the bar and facing the door, Alphonse sat to my right and Edward on my left, giving me a clear view of everything else that was going on in the restaurant. "I will send someone out to take your orders in just a moment."

"Do you guys know her?" I asked once Elysia had her back turned to us at the front of the café.

"She's an old friend," Al explained, leaving out any interesting details I would have liked to hear.

"So," Edward took charge of changing the subject, "Was playing Clue all you guys did today?"

"No," I answered. "We played Clue, Garbage, Monopoly, Sorry, and talked about random shi–" I held my tongue, "Random stuff." Probably best not to start cussing in front of them.

"That's fun," 'Daddy' mused. "What did you two talk about?" His tone of voice had a strange twinge to it; it was like something Mom would say. Could it be worry? I don't think so; it sounded more along the lines of concern in a 'were you talking about me?' sort of thing.

"About everything," Al answered honestly, not caring about what Ed wanted to hear. "You, me, her, board games, alchemy, automail, homunculi…" He trailed off after the last one he listed, almost like he didn't want to Ed to hear it. I don't blame him, Edward – as learned in the past couple days – can be angered very easily.

"Why would you tell Romi about the homunculi?" Edward demanded. "One Envy nightmare is enough!"

"Well, she asked, Brother," the younger Elric murmured. "What was I supposed to say?"

"Anyways," I cut in, eager to get off this topic. The pair continued to bicker over the pointless discussion. My attention began to wander elsewhere as I scanned the café. I blushed furiously and averted my eyes as my gaze was caught in a man's from the far corner of the restaurant. His irises were deep violet, the strangest yet most attractive color that I had ever seen. He had pale skin and dark hair, worn in a style that reminded me of Roy's. His mouth was drawn into a tight line just above his firm set jaw that was covered with dark stubble. I inched forwards in my chair, forcing myself to bring my focus back to my father and uncle. Being scared of someone I simply saw in a café is utterly pointless, even if he is eerily familiar.

"You alright there, Romi?"

"Oh! What?" I asked turning to look at Alphonse so fast my cracked. Ow, damnit! "Yeah, I guess I'm fine." He didn't believe me, it was obvious. "Really, perfectly fine." We ordered, ate, thanked Elysia and complimented her entrepreneur skills, and all the while I couldn't take my eyes off of the creeper in the corner; I know I have seen that man before. It was well after eight when we finally left.

"That was a nice dinner," Alphonse said as we stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. The crisp wind began to whip my ponytail into my face; I violently tied my hair back into a bun to avoid any further annoyances.

"That it was," I replied, folding my arms over my chest.

"I'm glad you suggested it, little brother."

"Yeah, we covered that it was fantastic. Can we get going now?" I asked. Anything to get home before it gets too dark. Ugh, I feel like a six year-old just _thinking _that. It is so uncool.

"You seem a bit on edge tonight," Ed observed. "Are you sure you're fine?"

I nodded. "Too much food," I said, patting my stomach. He was getting better at acting like a caring father, I had to admit it. Yet, it was a good thing that I hadn't been around him my entire life, because it would be to easy for him to catch me in my lies now.

**That sounds like a good place to stop, I guess. So, even if he was just sitting in a corner, the main antagonist has been introduced. My story doesn't sound nearly as cool as I had hoped it would but oh well. Thank you once again to my lovely reviewers, you guys rock. Until next chapter, adios!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Roses for His Romi**

**Author's Note: Twice in one day, I am on a roll! Thank you to those who answered my trivial little question from my last A/N note. Reviews are awesome. As a heads up, I had no idea what to do with this chapter when I was writing it so hang in there.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Fullmetal Alchemist *sigh***

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine," I sighed. The woman just cannot accept a simple answer anymore! Sheesh!

"And how has your father been? Are you being nice to him? Has he asked about me at all? How's Uncle Al?" Her questions never seemed to stop coming. I don't think I should lie to her about everything that's been going on here, I'm lying enough as it is.

"Edward has been fine. I am sort of being nice to him. No, he has barely even mentioned you. Alphonse is fine." Okay, maybe that was being a little bit too harsh with her. "How has automail-life been back at home?"

"Busier than ever!" she exclaimed. I had a feeling she had posed up in front of a sparkly pink background wherever she was. "Oh, if only you were here to see it, Romi! The most amazing people have come to town asking for _my _automail! I wish you were here to help out, this is like heaven!"

After raising me for fourteen years she still doesn't realize that I don't like automail mechanics? Why do I find that so surprising? "That's wonderful, Mom," I sighed into the receiver. I sprawled out on my bed, my back pressed to the mattress. "But, honestly, being in the land of alchemy is much more exciting for me."

Her mood darkened. "Oh, I see how it is! You're going to play favorites now? By all means, go ahead!"

"Mom!" I shot at her, bolting upright. "You cannot be serious! I just freaking met this man. I don't even recognize him as my father yet and you think I would suddenly pick him over you? That's ridiculous!"

"Well, excuse a mother for worrying."

I sighed. "You're excused. Hey, Mom…why did you and Edward get divorced anyways?"

She grew so silent; I couldn't even hear her breathing. "It's a long story, honey."

"I've got time," I assured her.

"If you must know, it was because of you," she answered. I felt as if I'd been stabbed in the heart. "Now, don't take that the wrong way. I was complaining to him about his job – how Mustang kept calling him back to Central for work – and accidently said it would be better for you if we were separated. He took it literally and was more than happy when he left."

"Really?" I breathed; my voice was not even loud enough to be considered a whisper.

"Oh! I think a customer is here," she exclaimed, happy to change the subject. "I will call you later, okay? I love you, bye." Hearing that made me feel empty inside, homesick in a way; I didn't like it. Clicking the 'end' button, I set the cordless phone on my nightstand. I have only been here for three days and I already want to go home. It's a Friday night, I should be out with my friends or something, not sitting in a lonely apartment while my dad is at work and uncle is cleaning or cooking.

"Romi!" Alphonse called for me from the living room. "I have to go pick Brother up from Central Command, do you wanna come?"

I sighed. "I guess…" I got to my feet and casually strolled into the hallway by the front door. Alphonse pulled his jacket on and opened the door for me. Twenty minutes and half a pack of Twizzlers that we had stopped to get along the way later, we arrived at the capital building. Half of me expected to find Ed waiting on a bench out front like I was forced to do when Mom was late picking me up from school, but he wasn't there. We walked up the steps to the main entrance. Inside was overwhelmingly warm; I don't know how anyone can stand working in here.

"Go ahead in, Alphonse," the woman sitting behind the main desk smiled at him, looking over the shoulder of a man dressed in all black with a strange tattoo with the base of his neck who was already standing in front of her. She scratched her head in frustration, a strand of her neat brunette hair falling into her eyes. By the looks of it, the man already at the counter was giving her a hard time about something.

"Thank you, Maura," Al said, turning down the corridor to the left. I followed closely at his heels, getting the feeling that someone was watching me. The man at the front desk…could it be the man from the café?

"Well, it's about time, Al!" Edward exclaimed, meeting us halfway down the hall. He stood with his hands on his hips, leaning to his right side in a very feminine manor. I had to bite my lip to hold in a giggle.

"I'm sorry, Brother," my uncle apologized. I turned to walk back down the hallway, the two trailing behind me. This place was uncomfortable, I didn't like it. So the sooner I got out of here, the better. I reached to push out on the door but was stopped by Alphonse's voice. "Wait just a second, Romi."

"I'm sorry, sir," the woman at the front desk said sternly – I think Al said her name was Maura. "But the Fuhrer is away and won't be returning until next week. I will gladly take a message for him but for now I will have to ask you to leave." This guy must be some major trouble!

"No," the man sighed. His harsh voice sounded wrong, it barely matched his face. "I will just come back when he gets in. Erm, thank you for your time." He scowled and turned away from the counter, giving me a clear view of his face. It _was_ the man from the restaurant!

"Holy shit," I breathed, backing into the glass door.

"Excuse me," he said, shooting me down with a sharp glare from his violet eyes, pushing past me. Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks; I knew where I had seen his face before. There was a picture of him in one of Mom's photo albums. The photo was of him and Mom when she was, like, fifteen standing behind a little girl holding a teddy bear bigger than she was on her birthday. But that was from so long ago, there was no possible way this man could look exactly the same for more than fifteen years.

Against my uncle's will, I followed him outside. As soon as I had escaped the warmth of the Command building, I realized how incredibly stupid I was being. My muscles tensed as I reached backwards for the door. Edward and Alphonse were standing in front of the desk, talking with Maura. They looked as if they hadn't even noticed I had gone outside.

Something hard brushed against my shoulder. I highly suspect that he did it on purpose. "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized whole-heartedly, the corner of his mouth turning up into a smile. I shrugged, as if to tell him I was okay. He barely touched me but it was as if I could still feel it, even after the numbing cold. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be Fullmetal's daughter, would you?"

I watched him more carefully now. How could he figure that out? I mean, I know you can tell we are related, but after looking at me once he has already figured it out? Again, I shrugged in reply. This guy was a creeper…

"Hey, Romi!" Edward stepped outside, cutting himself off before anything else got out of his mouth. "Hughes," he gasped in shock. I spun around to watch his eyes widen in horror. Before I could look back over my shoulder, the creeper was gone.

"But it couldn't be, Brother…" Al trailed off into silence.

"I know, Al. I guess that's what happened to Gracia after all."

**YES! I don't know about you, but I call that chapter a success! For those of you who can add the obvious together, you will realize that I am probably going to hell for writing that. Thank you to those of you who have reviewed, you're all amazing! (I'm doing so good at not begging for reviews!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Roses for His Romi**

**Author's Note: Oh wow, I am really bad at updating, aren't I? That is probably because I completely lost my train of thought on where to go with this fanfic. If anyone has any ideas for chapters, conversations, ect, I would gladly like to hear them. Thanks for putting up with me.**

**Disclaimer: If I don't own a fish on a scooter, what makes you think that I own Fullmetal Alchemist?**

The tile floor of the kitchen numbed my cold feet. Surprisingly enough, I had managed to get out of my room without Ed or Al seeing me so I had a slim chance of eating breakfast in peace. After going through just about every cupboard, I gave up on breakfast. The clock on the stove showed it was almost noon anyways so lunch wouldn't be very far off. My stomach rumbled and I decided against waiting. I found a strawberry poptart on a shelf by the fridge and tip-toed into the small living room.

"It's about time you got up," Edward sighed, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked up at me with hazy golden eyes, dark circles sitting just beneath them. Did he really stay up all night worrying about yesterday? I'm not even sure what the big deal is, it's not like that guy is the only freak running around Amestris.

"Sorry," I yawned, stretching my arms above my head. It felt nice to finally relax. Okay, I can't relax at all when both of them are being so uptight but whatever. "It was a long day yesterday. Did you, like, stay up all night or something?"

"Yeah," he growled, glaring down at the coffee table in front of him. "There is another homunculus in Amestris! How could I even think of sleeping?"

Note to self, Ed isn't a morning person. "Wait…that guy was a homunculus? But you said that you two killed them all!" I exclaimed, sitting down on the open section of the L-shaped couch. I unwrapped the poptart, broke off a large portion of the corner, and stuck it in my mouth. I barely even tasted it in my mouth.

"We did," Al answered. "But they aren't impossible to recreate. Someone has attempted human transmutation."

"Correction," Ed said sternly. "Some _idiot _attempted human transmutation and made a new one."

"Brother!" the younger Elric scolded. "I thought you said that you thought Gracia made him. If I recall, she was our friend. We don't call friends idiots, no matter what. That's how you lose them."

I bit my lip to hold in a giggle. Usually I can't put up with anybody acting like that but it is impossible to be mad at Al. "So what are you guys gonna do?" I asked. The both shot 'you're going to help us too' looks in my direction. "What? It's not like I can do anything! A fourteen-year-old girl who knows nothing about what's really going on here as opposed to a trained State Alchemist? Is there really even a choice there?"

"You're still going to be with us, Romi," Edward told me. WHY? It's not like I can do anything useful. "And if you are staying in Central I don't think you will have much of a choice. I'm sorry but homunculi aren't that easy to get rid of." The image of Envy lunging at me struck me like a bolt of lightning; his smirk fading slowly from my mind.

"Fantastic," I muttered under my breath, sinking back into the cushions of the couch. Alphonse gave me an apologetic look on Ed's behalf. I mouthed 'whatever' at him and popped another piece of poptart in my mouth. I got the feeling that I didn't completely understand the situation. An artificially created human, that's all we could classify him as. That didn't mean at all that he was going to turn out like the ones from Ed's stories.

"_It's a double rainbow all the way across the sky! YEEEAAH! So intense_!" Alright, I officially decide that I hate that ringtone and need to change it. I rose from my seat and dashed into my bedroom, mostly just to shut it up rather than answer it. On the front screen it read 'MOMMY' in pink letters. I picked it up off my nightstand, opened it, and held it to my ear, "Yesm?"

"Do you really think that that's an appropriate way to answer your phone, Romi?" Mom asked snootily. Did she just call to nag me, really? Besides, I just talked to her last night. Is whatever I did between then and now that exciting? Alright, so maybe it is but that doesn't mean that I am going to tell her about it!

"Why yes, in fact, I think it is a fine way to answer _my _phone," I replied, matching her tone of voice.

She sighed. "Anyways, you're father called me last night – woke me up at about midnight, I might add – and said if at all possible for me to come get you. What did you do now?"

What did I do? She can't be serious. I don't think it's possible for me to do something so bad that I would get send home for it on my fourth day here. I know I can be a bitch, but really! "I didn't do anything!" I exclaimed.

"Then what happened?" Mom asked, a razor edging her voice. I absolutely hate that she assumes everything is my fault when she was the one who set me up for disaster in the first place. It's ridiculous.

"Well, Alphonse and I had to go pick Edwa- Dad up at Central Command and we, uh, ran into some trouble," I explained, avoiding any further detail. Going home didn't sound like such a good option right now. After being in Central, I realized that Rush Valley definitely wasn't a good place for me to be but staying here with Ed and Al could end up being pretty dangerous. Hell, I guess it already has been dangerous.

"Why am I not surprised?" She sighed again. "So, do you really need for me to come pick you up or not?"

"No. Just stay home and make more automail. I will be perfectly fine here." If I know her at all, which I do, I know that she is glaring out whatever window she is closest to, pretending that she is looking at me. I gazed out my bedroom window, thinking about how much trouble I have been causing her. She is probably going to ground me when I get home, which is totally out of line considering that she wanted me to come here.

"If you say so. Would you mind letting me talk to him?" Mom didn't say it like she was asking a question; she was just being nice about telling me what to do. I tip-toed, a strange habit of mine, back into the living room and handed Edward the phone over the couch.

"Hello again, Winry… Well, if she says she is fine with it, then Romi can stay. … The problem? Erm, about that…it's Hughes. … Yes, I know he's dead. Winry, I can't tell you any more so just calm down!" Ed exclaimed, throwing his left arm into the air dramatically. He snapped my phone closed and handed it back to me.

"That went well," Al shrugged, holding in a smile.

Edward turned to look at me, locking my eyes in an intense stare. "You can now see why your mother and I are divorced," he chuckled.

* * *

I had tried to get to sleep, I really had. But, being as stressed out as I was, I couldn't manage it. So I pretended that I was; I kept my eyes shut and the comforter tucked above my shoulder. They got into my room, and I couldn't do a thing about it. I laid as still as stone, facing the door, praying that Ed would burst in with some epic alchemy trick and save my ass from whatever is going to happen.

"You cannot be serious, Pride. She is just a little girl, nothing special like you make her out to be!" a low woman's voice murmured, her words emphasized with venom. I shuttered.

"Oh but, Lust, I am _dead _serious," the man replied quietly. It was Hughes, the man at Central Command and the restaurant the other night. His voice reminded me of flames slipping off his lips, made me think of hell.

"Riza or Rina – whatever her name is – isn't going to help us willingly and therefore won't do us any good. She already knows too much, we should just kill her now and get it over with!" My heart pounded like thunder inside my chest, roaring a storm in my throat and ears.

"Killing her would be such a hassle though; it's not worth the trouble. Our first step is to rid ourselves of the Fullmetal Alchemist, nothing more than that. Besides, Wrath is the only useful one of us missing and I say that Romi fits the name perfectly."

"I suppose I have to agree with that."

…Oh, damn!

**Alright, that was pretty lame. And most of the wording in that chapter was confusing. And I hope that Natani appreciates what I fit in for her when she gets around to reading it, the Double Rainbow Song was her request. Anyways, thank you reviewers. Any ideas for the story are welcome. Until next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Roses for his Romi**

**Author's Note: Woohoo! Finally back on track! By the way, this isn't an EdxWinry fanfic if you haven't noticed. Honestly, I don't like that pairing whatsoever I just needed Romi to have a mother so that's how it turned out. And I had a rare stroke of genius earlier today and came up with two possible endings for this story, so I am going to let the reviewers pick: 1 or 2. I know that doesn't tell you anything but that is the point, ha-ha!**

**Disclaimer: Man, do I hate these things! I don't own FMA *sigh***

I bolted upright. Had I really fallen back to sleep? I jumped from my bed and sprinted into the apartment living room. Al at the kitchen table, an untouched plate of pancakes at the seat across from him. "Where's Da- I mean, where's Ed?" I demanded, the words getting caught in the back of my throat. Was I really about to call him Dad?

"He left early this morning and said not to wake you," Alphonse explained, setting down the alchemy book he was reading. This surprised me; he is good enough to be a State Alchemist, why should he need to read an alchemy book? "Why? What's wrong?" I like that he didn't tease me about almost recognizing Edward as my father, awesome.

"Oh, nothing," I sighed. Slowly, I glanced around the living room and peered around the corner and into the small kitchen. No sign of anyone else in the apartment, I should be alright for now. I slipped into the seat with the plate of pancakes placed in front of it, not that I was hungry at all. "Uh, what would you do if you knew something bad was going to happen either to you or someone you…loved?"

His hazel eyes grew dark and his mouth was pulled into a firm line. "Romi, what happened?" he asked, giving me the Look. Al folded his arms over his chest.

I nervously twiddled my thumbs in my lap. "I don't wanna bother you. I don't know if it was just a dream or my imagination running wild because I couldn't get to sleep last night," I lied. "I heard a conversation that I really shouldn't have."

"About what?" His tone of voice was urgent, I couldn't tell if he believed me or not.

"It was about Ed," I murmured. "I heard someone in my room last night, or outside my window or something, and they said that they had to kill him for some plan of theirs."

"One of these voices wouldn't have happened to belong to Mr. Hughes, would it?" Al asked, leaning eagerly over the edge of the table. I blushed furiously and looked away from him. "Romi?"

"Uh-huh, only he was called Pride," I squeaked, "and another woman that was named Lust." Obviously homunculi since they were named after the seven deadly sins. After trying not to tell him at all costs, it all comes rolling off my tongue. I am truly pathetic.

"If you're this scared it doesn't sound like you could've been imagining things," Alphonse said. "Tell me everything that you remember hearing." I gulped and nodded once, raking my fingers through my knotted hair.

"Well, the woman – Lust – said that I wasn't anything special and that they should have just killed me. Then Pride-Hughes told her it would be a waste of their time and that I would be useful to them since the first step in their plan was to kill of Edward," I explained in a mousy voice. His eyes grew wide. I feel bad since I had to continue for my own safety, especially since what is most important to him is his brother's life. Maybe I should just keep that part to myself.

"You look uncomfortable," Alphonse observed, sitting back in the wooden chair. "Romi…what else is there? I know you're keeping something from me. We have to know if we're gonna work through this." I shivered, waves of ice shooting down my spine.

"Then they said that Wrath was the only useful sin that they didn't have and that I would fit part perfectly," I whispered. "I have no idea what the hell that meant but it scared me half to death." He completely froze, his face resembling a statue. If it weren't for the bird that randomly crashed into the window across the room, we would've been caught in the silence forever. "Al…what'd they mean by that?"

Alphonse rose from his seat, ignoring my question. "You know what? I think it would be a good day to go visit Brother at work. Get dressed and get your cell phone; I don't know when he'll say that it'll be okay for us to come back here." I followed him, only breaking away to walk into my bedroom. I changed out of my loose sweat pants and changed into pale, boot-cut jeans and threw on a blue zip-up jacket over a white tank top. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and dashed out the door after Al.

Once we were in the backseat of the cab, I turned to Al. "What did they mean by that?" I asked under my breath.

"It's nothing that you have to worry about, Romi," he replied. "Just forget about it for now."

"Alphonse!" I scolded, loosing my cool. "They were talking about me; I think I have a right to know!"

"I know that you don't want to hear it and I really don't want to tell you what it means. But I will promise you right now that Brother and I will not let them touch you," Al assured, obviously troubled. He didn't sound very positive. That just makes me feel so much better!

"But," I protested, "They're homunculi! They are superhuman! How are you gonna do that?" I looked up at him with pleading eyes. I hate being desperate but there are lives on the line here! What if we all end up getting killed?

"Let's just get going," Alphonse sighed warily, opening the car door. I hadn't even noticed that we had pulled up in front of Central Command. I followed him up the stairs and into the main lobby. He didn't bother to tell Maura that he was going in to see Edward; he just rushed past her and down the hallway where we find him last time. We bolted into his office to find him standing beside his desk, facing Mustang. Fabulous! Just how exactly do you get the Fuhrer to leave? "Brother, we need to talk to you."

He looked over at us. "Another Envy nightmare?" he guessed. Roy tensed beside him. How much did he know?

"No," Alphonse trailed off. "Fuhrer, would you mind giving us a quick minute?" Roy pushed past me as he walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind himself. He too gave me the Look.

"What is it now, Al?" Edward asked, unable to take his eyes off me.

"The homunculi were in my room last night!" I spat. "And they were talking about you and me and…murder."

"Murder?" he repeated. Inside, he was probably laughing at me. "Wait; is this Hughes that we are talking about?"

"Actually he is Pride, but yes we are," I answered. "Lust was with him too. They said that killing you was the first step in their 'master plan' and how they could use me for it. Then Pride-Hughes said that I fit the name Wrath perfectly. And Al won't tell me what any of this means!"

He pried his eyes off of me to look at Alphonse. "You don't think that they could've meant…?"

"It was the only thing that I thought of," Al explained, shrugging his shoulders. Edward began pacing in front of his desk, holding his flesh hand to his forehead as if relieving stress. I looked down at the floor, tracing the lines in the wood with my eyes. "Do you want to send her back to Winry's?"

"Alphonse, do you honestly think that Winry has the means of protecting Romi? These are the homunculi that we are talking about here!" Edward exclaimed, throwing his fists down on the desk. He made a sharp indent with his automail hand. "What is she going to do? Defeat them with her wrench of doom?"

My head began to feel like it was swelling like a balloon. I groaned quietly. Not having breakfast is starting to get to me… "Can I sneak away for a quick minute?" I asked. They both nodded in my direction as I turned for the door. I knew sitting down wouldn't do me any good and there is no way there is a vending machine anywhere near here so my only option is going to the bathroom to splash water onto my face.

I turned another corner, looking down the hallways for a restroom. Let's hope this'll do some good for me since I know we won't get home for a while. Leaving without any food whatsoever wasn't a good idea. But it's not like I had a choice this time.

"That wasn't a smart move, Romi." Hughes' voice echoed off the tiles and glass in the hallway. I looked up to see him standing at the other end of the corridor. Oh my damn! Do I run? Do I scream? Do I stay and fight? No, that'd be idiotic. What am I supposed to do?

"Not smart at all," Lust agreed. She looked like a Gothic hooker, for crying out loud. How exactly should I be reacting to that? Her inky wavy hair fell over the left half of her face and her violet eyes were just as striking as Pride-Hughes'. I spun on my heels to run but was cut short by two more figures. No doubt they were more homunculi. All I saw was black.

"Shit," I breathed.

**So that wasn't filled with much action, oh well. That was more of a family-bonding chapter more than anything else if you couldn't tell – which you probably couldn't. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it! I'm still open to ideas and I still would love feedback. Adios!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Roses for His Romi**

**I feel guilty that all this chapter will be is my author's note. Since I have had a major case of writers block for the past few days, I didn't know where to go with my fanfiction. So instead of dragging it out for another couple of chapters, I decided to split the story here. There will be two separate endings that you, my amazing readers/reviewers, can choose your favorite from. Please visit my profile page to find them. Thank you all!**

**Also, I will try to update the alternate endings at the same time so it might take me a bit longer to update. I deeply apologize in advance for that!**

**- Aya Akamatsu**

**11/1/10/ - you can now visit my profile page to read the first chapter of one of two alternate endings to Roses for His Romi titled: Poisoned Memories**

**11/14/10 – I am officially an idiot. There are so many people signed up for alerts for this story that I should have just added the endings to this. So that is what I am going to do. I'm gonna transfer the chapters to this story so everyone who has been keeping up with Romi and Edward can catch up with where I'm at!**


	11. poisoned memories ch1

**Roses for His Romi**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA**

**From now on, my chapters will contain parts to both endings. If you want the adventure/gory/kickass ending, keep reading. If you want the happy ending, skip to the next chapter, please. THESE ENDINGS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER, DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT BEING CONFUSED.**

"Romi!" Edward's voice stung my eardrums. As if I didn't realize the situation was bad enough, hearing a parent let their guard down and show that they're scared as well is never comforting. A violent shiver rocketed up my spine, shaking my entire body. I was frozen, all hope of getting out unharmed escaping me. "Roy, what the hell are you doing–?"

The warm flicker of flames nipped at my skin.

Blood curdling screams echoed through the hallway.

I couldn't fight and fell to the floor, my head slamming against the chilled tile floor. My brain rattled.

Bright lights flashed – some fire, some transmutations – as the fight carried on around me.

Why the hell can't I move right now?

"The burns don't look so serious and there are only a few scratches up her arms, no enormous pools of blood. I'll go with you to the hospital, Fullmetal," Roy informed.

"You bastard!" Ed growled. His cool, metal hand ran over the skin of my shoulder. He lifted my head off of the floor, pulling me up into his lap. I went limp underneath his touch, my breathing quickened. It seemed as though I couldn't get enough air into my body.

"What do you want me to do, Brother?" Alphonse asked from over his shoulder.

"Call Winry and tell her to come and get Romi. It'll be best for her to go home after an incident like this." He scooped me up, cradling me against his chest, as he got to his feet. "You're gonna be fine," he crooned in my ear, his voice barely audible, "Perfectly fine."

I whimpered. It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than me. The feeling of seasickness swept over me as he began to take steps forwards. I did my best to draw in oxygen without making myself nauseous.

When I opened my eyes again, everything was blurry. It looked as if a coat of fog had covered my eyes. Edward tucked his chin to his neck, his gold-blond bangs falling into my eyes as he gazed down at me. It tickled. Alphonse, holding a cell phone to his ear, and Roy stood on both sides of us. I could hear my mother's voice from the receiver.

"Yes, Romi and Ed got into some trouble. We need you to take the very next train up to Central to see her. …Why is it so important? Well, we need you to bring her medical records – she'll be in the hospital," he explained.

"What do you mean she'll be in the hospital?" she demanded. "My god, what the hell have you gotten into now?"

"Exactly what we told you was going on last time you called – Hughes and the homunculi."

"Can I talk to her, please?" Mom asked, worry masking her tone.

"Um, I don't think she can speak at the moment."

I groaned, flicking my wrist as if to say that I was able to try. I couldn't do anything for myself. Helpless is pathetic, I hate it. I hate it to hell. It makes everything complicated. I can't stand listening to them anymore; I cannot keep my eyes open. It hurts to think, my brain feels like it is being pulled apart. My breathing became scratchy and weak. I couldn't handle it anymore.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a hospital bed. Ed and Al were seated beside me on the left; Mom was pacing in front of the door on my right. Mom pressed the button to call for a nurse frantically, gripping my hand all the while. Ed whispered in my ear, his words coming across so slurred that I didn't understand him. He sounded like he was drunk. And apparently not only to me, Alphonse was repeating everything his brother said just to make sure I understood. He was too sweet.

I drifted away again. Over the next couple of hours I kept loosing and regaining consciousness. Every time I woke up again I saw someone different standing over me. Mom, Edward, Alphonse, Roy, and many different doctors and nurses. They were all assured that I was going to be fine, that the burns were healing and once I fully regained consciousness that I would be back to normal soon. There wasn't any brain damage, no broken bones, no surgery needed, I was just tired and overworked.

Finally, around midnight, a woman on the hospital cleaning staff told my parents that visiting hours were over and that they had to leave. Alphonse didn't have a problem with going home seeing as he had already been curled up uncomfortably on the chair in the corner, though, Mom and Ed were a completely different story. They both refused to go home and gave the lady a heap of trouble. I felt bad. They complied reluctantly, leaving me alone in the dark.

After what seemed like the longest fifteen minutes in the history of Amestris, someone entered the hospital room. He was dressed in black from head to toe with Roy-like raven hair to match. His firm set chin was covered in dark stubble and his eyes were sharp violet. It was Pride, formally known as Maes Hughes. Upon seeing him, I reminded myself that I promised myself I was alright with death, especially in a state like this.

"It has been quite a long time," he breathed, pulling over a chair to sit beside me, "Romi Trisha Alphonse Rockbell." Pride whipped out a needle, filled with a mysterious red liquid, seemingly out of nowhere. What was he gonna do with that? "I almost feel bad for ridding you of such a lovely name. It is such a shame that I can't see the fear in your eyes." He pricked the crease of my elbow with the needle, slowly injecting me with the contents. My body began to tingle, which turned into a numb burn. I couldn't twitch, I couldn't move, I couldn't scream, I couldn't stop it. "Hello, Wrath."

Mom, Ana, Alphonse, all of my previous teachers, Pride-Hughes, the school bullies back in Rush Valley, Lust, Greed, Envy, Maura, Roy, and my father – since I have decided I might as well begin calling him that – Edward. All of their faces ran through my head, fading in and out. Tears swelled in my eyes, partly from the pain and partly from the memories. Why did everything have to be so complicated now?

"I can stay with you, if you prefer," Pride offered. I wanted to protest, to tell him to get the hell away from me. But I couldn't – I didn't have the energy. I forced myself to focus on my family, on my friends, on anyone that I have ever known besides the damn homunculi. He took the seat where Al had been placed mere minutes before, gazing down at me contently. As hard as I tried, the memories became hazy, the pictures stayed but the thought behind them disappeared.

What is…what is going on? What happened? Who…whose faces are these? Why do I remember these people?

_No! _I mentally slapped myself. They're family, they're friends; am I going insane?

Damnit, I am!

**There's Poisoned Memories chapter one, I hope you liked it. :D**


	12. falling into place ch1

**Roses for His Romi: The Happy Ending…Sorta**

**Author's Note: Have I mentioned lately that I feel extremely terrible for not updating lately? Well, probably not considering that I haven't had a story to apologize in since what seems like forever ago. Anyways, here you go: the second alternate ending to Roses for His Romi. Unlike Poisoned Memories, this will be less…oh, what's the word for it? Adventure-ish? Let's go with that. Not to be a spoiler, but this is the happier ending.**

**Disclaimer: Friday was my last day in Exploratory French, writer's block had taken over my brain for quite some time now, and I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. My life has been pretty sad recently.**

I don't…I don't even know how I got away. I barely remember what happened in the first place. For once, being a wimp saved my life. At the first sign of hope, I dashed back down the hallway towards Ed's office. The homunculi followed, of course, only to be torched by Mustang. And, as it turns out, the Fuhrer wasn't as useless as Ed made him out to be.

Of course, once they drew back, Edward and Alphonse insisted that we take the next train out of Central to keep them off our trail. We didn't even stop back home before we left. Al purchased out tickets while Ed and I concentrated on keeping an eye out for the homunculi on the platform. The three of us boarded the train and took out seats in a compartment hidden in the back. My heart was racing in my chest nervously. I couldn't shake the idea that they had followed us here even though Edward and I triple checked they weren't even at the station.

"Romi, it's alright, just relax," Alphonse assured. He was being the adult in this situation because Ed couldn't. I could tell by his tense body language and, not to mention, his facial expression. If I could read his mind, it would be something like 'I can handle myself, but my helpless teenage daughter is another story.'

I am not completely a little kid and not completely helpless. My alchemy skill isn't amazing under these circumstances, but it gives me some means of fighting back. I pouted, glaring at him.

"How does one fourteen-year-old attract this much attention?" Ed asked himself, murmuring under his breath. His eyes were glued to his shoes…or the floor, I couldn't tell which one exactly. "It's impossible!"

My jaw fell. "Excuse me?" I demanded. "They were after you in the first place, Mr. Fullmetal Alchemist! Alphonse just happened to meet me before they began to move in and you two invited me here. None of this is _really _my fault, they just think that I could be useful in their master plan." I folded my arms sharply over my chest.

"C'mon, you guys," Al pleaded. "Let's not fight here. Nothing is either of your faults so calm down. Once we get out into the country, everything will be alright."

"Wait! We aren't going back to Rush Valley?" I asked, bolting forward.

"Of course not," Ed answered. "If they know anything about you yet, that would be the first place they would look. Getting away from any major cities is our best bet."

That didn't fit. The homunculi are smart – or so I have been told – and extremely devious. If they know enough about me to know that I grew up in the automail capital of Amestris, then they would most likely assume that we think that's the first place they would look for us. Thus, causing them to look some place else. In that case, Rush Valley would be the safest place for me to go. And, if they needed a hostage to get us to cooperate with them for whatever reason, my mom was still staying there. We should at least call her to get out of the city or go to visit her ourselves.

"If you say so," I sighed, not wanting to anger him more than I already have by protesting.

Alphonse gazed sternly at me. "What's wrong now?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said.

That response was completely out of habit; I was lying.

Again.

What a shock, right?

"Romi, for the record, you can't lie about everything," Ed said. "If your uncle asks what's wrong then you should give him a legitimate answer. Saying 'nothing' is as bad as saying 'whatever' or 'I don't give a damn, just leave me alone.' "

"Brother, calm down. If Romi doesn't wanna answer it's fine." He turned to look at me. "I completely understand if you're still not comfortable around us yet."

How does that thought even come into play? I am comfortable around him. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have talked to him at all since I arrived in Central. I shook my head as if that counted as a reply. Al nodded, smiling. I love how nothing ever seems to faze him.

"It's a freaking habit, alright?" I grumbled, rolling my eyes. "And, for god's sake, Ed, I think it's a little bit late to start acting like the father-figure here!" I knew that I shouldn't have said that, but it felt nice to get it out of my system. Leaning against the back of the seat, I groaned again.

Surprisingly enough, he didn't fight back. Maybe Edward was seriously trying to be a parent.

Al leaned closer beside me. "Brother is just worried," he whispered. "It would be pointless to get yourself worked up over this, too."

"If you say so," I shrugged.

Two parents, one divorce, one daughter; as if that wasn't a big enough problem. Now there are four homunculi, one State Alchemist, one younger brother of said State Alchemist, and that State Alchemist's teenage daughter. Everything just sounds peachy right now, doesn't it?

"_It's a double rainbow all the way across the sky! YEEEAAH! So intense_!"

…Why did I not change that damn ringtone the last time it annoyed me…?

"Hello?"

"Just checking in," Mom informed.

Alright, so she wasn't calling just to accuse me of something ridiculous. "Lovely," I replied.

"How is everything?" she asked. How did I not see that one coming?

"Um, everything is fine…at the moment. About an hour ago, though, not so much."

"Why?" Mom demanded. "What happened now?"

I glanced up at Ed. '_Hand me the phone_' he mouthed. "Just some complications," I told her. "I think Edward should be the one to explain." Because I am too big of a chicken to, I wanted to add. I handed the phone off to Ed across from me.

"Hi, Winry," Ed said into the receiver. "No, we are on a train at the moment to get away from Central. … Romi is perfectly fine, no worries. Yes, actually we are getting off at the next stop for dinner. There is this great home-style diner in the heart of town. … Auntie Pinako's, that's the place!"

"Sure, sure, Edward," Mom sighed on the other end of the line, "Alright then."

Of course Ed would be thinking about food at a time like this. But hey, I am not one to pass up a meal at a time like this either. This will give us a chance to really relax, if only for a half-hour or so. And maybe taking a break can actually give Ed and me a chance at a nice father-daughter relationship.

Yeah…I doubt that.

**I had no idea how to end this chapter, oh well. Nothing has really happened yet unlike Poisoned Memories which had a good plot from the get-go so I apologize for that. This story was really easy to write (I got it done in a day and a half!) and plus, my editor/cure-for-writer's-block/friend-person says this is a better ending for the story so I will be updating soon. Au revoir!**


	13. poisoned memories ch2

**Poisoned Memories**

**Author's Note: Yay! Another installment of **_**Poisoned Memories**_**! It sure took me long enough, didn't it? Anyways, I'm up for any suggestions for this story. I have the ending planned out but if there's anything specific you want, just let me know. Same goes for **_**Falling into Place.**_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do own Romi, though. This is great considering she is one of my better FMA OC's.**

"_Romi," Edward crooned, trying to pull his daughter from her deep sleep. He ran his flesh hand through her bleach blond ringlets. "Romi, wake up."_

_The young girl grumbled, rubbed her eyes and turned in her sleep._

_"C'mon, Romi." Ed carefully pulled her stuffed animal, a lavender bunny that served as her comfort object, from her grip and began to press it to her skin. He quickly patted it against her cheeks, down to her jaw-line, and her shoulders in attempt to tickle her. "It's time to get up."_

_Romi yawned. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing her royal blue irises. She scrunched her light eyebrows together and pouted her lush bottom lip. "But," she yawned, "'M tired!"_

_"What kind of girl sleeps through her own birthday party?" Edward countered lightly, grinning to himself._

_"Mommy said my party isn't till later!" Romi whined. "Daddy, I wanna sleep!"_

Daddy. _Edward's grin grew wider; he was filled with a strange joy upon hearing his little girl speak that word. He still had no idea how his life had turned out so well. Ed didn't know what he had done to deserve it._

_Ed slipped the bunny back into her arms. "Fine," he sighed, "then while you sleep, I can go pick Uncle Alphonse up from the train station by myself. That way, he and I can get blue frosting for the cake Mommy's making. Blue is the color you wanted, right?"_

_Romi bolted upright. "NO!" she exclaimed, pounding her clenched fists onto her cushy bedspread. "I wanna go get Uncle Al with you! And you know Mommy and I told you to get purple frosting! Blue is icky." The three-year-old, as of today, stuck her tongue out at her father._

_"Alrighty then. If you wanna go, you gotta be ready in a half hour. Got it?" he asked._

_"Got it." Romi nodded._

* * *

Pride was long gone. It was nearly noon now. Mom, Edward, and Alphonse had returned early this morning. I didn't know what to think anymore. The pain subsided within me, leaving me with this terrible empty feeling. Everything made me furious in one way or another. I hated everyone around me. It made me hate myself.

"I'm so sorry, Romi," Edward whispered in my ear. He grasped my hand in his; for once, his automail arm felt warm. "This is all my fault. And everyone knows it. Once you pull out of this, I promise that things will be better. We won't be rushing around Central, we can try and be a real family – you, you're mother, and I. We can go back and visit Risembool. Wait…you probably don't know what that is. Well, it's a small village towards the south. I think you would like it."

No where sounds nice to me anymore. Everywhere sounds horrible, like hell would be a better place. There is something wrong with me, and I know what, I just choose not to accept it. There was a fucking Philosopher's Stone inside of me. I fought through it, I survived, but I still feel like I am losing the battle.

The door swung open. "How's she doing, Brother?" Alphonse asked. I could hear the _click _of Mom's high heels on the tile floor behind him. I couldn't stand that damn noise. The door creaked shut.

"Nothing new," Ed sighed. "No movements and no responses, nothing at all." If I heard correctly, he was sniffling.

How pathetic.

That's what Pride would have said anyways. He thinks that all humans are worthless. I don't know what I think about them yet. Most of them are, I'll agree, but I still have my family.

And to that Pride would have said 'to hell with them.' He told me that my human family wouldn't matter anymore; that I had been reborn as a homunculus and Edward and Alphonse Elric along with Winry Rockbell did not mean a thing to me anymore.

* * *

"_Uncle Al!" Romi squealed joyfully, a bright smile drawn across her pink lips. "Uncle Al!"_

_"Hey, kiddo," Alphonse greeted his niece, scooping her up into his arms. He looked up at Edward. "Hello, Brother."_

_"Uncle Al, guess what today is!" Romi exclaimed, wide-eyed with excitement._

_"Hmm…" the younger Elric brother mused teasingly. "I don't remember. You're going to have to remind me."_

_Romi gasped overdramatically – as most three-year-olds would. "It's my birthday, silly!"_

_Ed chuckled, shaking his head. "Cool it," he smirked. "Uncle Al wouldn't forget about that. I'll get your bags, Alphonse. Or we could switch and you wouldn't have to carry the toddler to the car."_

_"Daddy! You said I was a big girl now!"_

_"Of course I did," her father corrected himself, picking up his brother's suitcase. "Now let's go get that purple frosting before your mother gets worried."_

* * *

"Edward, why did we get divorced anyways?" Mom sighed. EW, this conversation was making me sick already.

Ed tensed beside me. His grip grew tighter around my hand. "Winry, we have been over this before," he answered. "Things just didn't work out. I have my job for the military in Central, you have your automail. And, to be honest, I don't see why we were together in the first place. We weren't made for each other."

Mom drew in a deep, pre-cry breath. "Fine then," she pouted. "I understand. But we _were _made for Romi. We didn't even try to stay as a couple for her. She ended up hating you and it's entirely my fault!"

"Winry, get over it. Things resolved between us, I swear. Romi and I got along just fine."

"You're such a terrible liar."

"I am not! We did get along, didn't we, Al?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, Brother," Alphonse yawned.

My limbs began to tingle, almost like they were regaining feeling. It passed after a long moment, and I wouldn't dare try to move since the three of them were still in the room. It was my last twenty-four hours with them; I should be able to stand this. _Just a few more hours, _I told myself, _just a little bit longer._

x.X.x

"Pathetic, aren't they?" Pride asked upon entering my room again. I sat upright, my spine cracking several times. Following him into my room was the other homunculi; Lust, Envy and Greed. Lust and Greed reminded me of a set of Goth versions of Barbie and Ken dolls. Envy was an exact reincarnation of the cross-dressing palm tree from my nightmare. "Ready?"

"I might as well be," I sighed, swinging my legs over to the floor.

Lust glared at me, "I still say that injecting her with the stone was a bad idea."

Pride cut in, "Let's just…"

"_Get going," Ed smiled. "We still have frosting and birthday presents to get."_

**Done! Sorry if it was a little bit hard to follow. But, trust me; this will be one of those stories that comes together in the end. Romi's memories play a big part in this ending, hence the title. Thank you to my reviewers! Until next chapter, adios!**


	14. falling into place ch2

**Falling into Place**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA**

**Wow, this is really stressing me out! Here is the happier ending to Roses for his Romi. BTW, it has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER! They are separate endings, please don't be confused. I hope you guys like it.**

Risembool; most likely the prettiest place I have ever seen within Amestris. Soft, rolling hills covered by lush green grass. Trees shot up from the ground, towering over everything in sight. The sky was clear blue, clouds unseen for miles on end. It reminded me of a scene that I would see in one of the picture books Mom used to read to me as a kid, the kind filled with princesses and magical creatures and happy endings.

Sitting on the top of a far off hill was a huge yellow house, something along the size of what I'd consider to be a mansion. A long, winding stone walkway led to the porch – the path that Al, Ed, and I were currently following. Leaning against the house was a sign consisting of wooden boards nailed together. It read 'Rockbell Automail.'

I looked up at Edward with confusion in my eyes. What on earth is this sign doing here? Risembool is in the middle of freaking no where and Mom hasn't made automail anywhere other than in Rush Valley…right? As we approached the house, I noticed that I woman was sitting on the porch steps in front of the door. She was thin with long blond hair and a rusty red tool box sat beside her. _Oh god, it's Mom._

"What…?" I stuttered, looking up at Edward with eyes the size of saucers. "How…? How did you two manage this without me knowing? I have been with you the entire time!"

"It was code," Ed explained, chuckling, "while we were talking on the phone. That home-style restaurant, Auntie Pinako's, was referring to meet at Winry's grandmother's old house in our home town." I narrowed my eyes. I had to give it to them, it was very clever. And being clever was something I never thought of my mother to be.

Instead of accusing them of lying to me about anything else, all I said was, "Sneaky."

"Romi!" Mom exclaimed cheerfully, hopping off the steps. She quickly wrapped me in her arms. I rolled my eyes. Moms will be moms… "I missed you so much!"

_Why did you want me to meet Ed then? _"Yeah," I breathed, pulling away from her. "I missed you too."

"Now, Edward," she grit through her teeth. I caught a gleam of hidden happiness in her cerulean irises. She was glad to see him, I knew it. "I understand that you wanted to meet Romi, but, really? You had to suck her into this kind of mess? What kind of father would do that?"

Ed sighed, at an obvious loss of words. He shrugged his shoulders. "Winry, you don't even know what's going on yet," he said. "Just wait until you hear the whole story before you go and make crazy accusations. It isn't what it sounds like."

"But, Brother," Alphonse whispered to his sibling. "The whole story is worse than what it sounds like."

"Shush, Al! I'm trying to make a point!"

I groaned. They were acting like children. And that's pretty bad considering it's coming from the child here.

"Really?" Mom countered, ignoring Al's comment. "Then what is the whole story? I am just dying to know."

Edward walked up the steps to the front door. "Let's go inside. It'll be safer to explain it that way." He left the front door, faded green paint peeling off of the wood, open behind him. Mom stomped inside after him, her arms folded over her chest and her eyebrows scrunched together. Al and I were the last into the shadowy house; he locked the door behind us.

Inside was old, dusty furniture. Some of the chairs and coffee tables matched the collection of things Mom kept at the house back in Rush Valley. The windows were covered with newspapers, letting in very little sunlight. Overall, the interior seemed familiar; like I should remember being here before but don't. I scanned the living room again, noticing that the mantel above the fireplace was still lined with pictures – despite probably being abandoned for years. Blocking out the adults' bickering in the background, I examined the photos.

The first picture was of a young couple, most likely in their early twenties. The woman wore a silk wedding dress, her blond hair framing her face and her bright cerulean eyes. The man was in a black tux, his golden bangs falling into his matching eyes, with his strong arms wrapped around her waist. It was Mom and Edward on their wedding day. I gagged.

The next picture was Mom, panting with her bangs stuck to her damp forehead, lying in a hospital bed. In her arms was a small child, wisps of corn silk hair covering her head, wrapped in a purple blanket. I know that blanket; it was from my early elementary years. Blurring the top right corner of the picture was a hazy silver stub. Could it have been Ed's automail?

Sitting beside that photo was a snapshot of Mom and Ed holding hands and beaming at the camera in front of a large window, the sunlight radiating in behind them. In Ed's automail hand he held a sign that read 'sold'. A younger, much tinier me – almost a two-year-old – clung to his leg, smiling at the camera. I took it that this was when they bought there first house. Outside of the window, way off in the distance was the Central Command building. So, we really had been a family?

I caught myself before wondering who these pictures belonged to, since Ed said this had been my grandmother's house.

"Romi!" Mom scolded, snapping my attention back. "Why wouldn't you call me if something like that went wrong?"

"Um, because I thought the Fullmetal Alchemist could handle it," I replied, shrugging. I spun slowly on my heels to face them, looking around the house once more.

She sighed, shaking her head. "What on earth am I going to do with you?" Mom muttered to herself.

"Share her with me 'cause – despite being in a life or death situation – it's the most freedom I've had since Mustang became Fuhrer," Ed cut in.

I rolled my eyes. "Lovely, Edward, lovely. So…what now? Do we keep running? Do we go back to Central and fight?"

"You" – Ed pointed to me – "stay here with your mother and Al. I can go back and deal with the homunculi."

"By yourself?" Al demanded. "I don't think so, Brother. It'll take more than just one State Alchemist to kill them. You remember last time."

"As much as I hate to, I can just get Mustang's help. No big deal," he answered.

I glared at him. "I have to be able to do something besides just sit here and wait for you to clean up the mess!"

Edward countered, "Romi, you said it yourself that none of this was your fault. Why should you have to deal with it then? Besides, what kind of defense do you have against them? A limited ability of alchemy? That isn't going to help you out much."

"Oh, and by the way, Romi," Mom added. "I brought that cute little rose that you transmuted before going to meet your dad with me. You know, in case you wanted to show it to him."

**There you have it, kids, the second ending. I hope you're getting a hang of the program now. I know it makes me sound bitchy, but no one was reading them as separate stories. Hopefully now my readers can be happy!**


	15. poisoned memories ch3

**Poisoned Memories**

**Oh my fucking god. I saw **_**Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows **_**today (November 19, 2010) and let me say that that movie was the shit. If you haven't seen it, see it. Of course, not everything followed the book and they kept casting spells at each other left and right causing me to go "Where the hell is the equivalent exchange in that?" Anyways, hopefully I can get back to writing fanfictions now. Excuse my ranting, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

Homunculi: artificial humans created by alchemy. Usually, they develop from the results of a failed human transmutation. In other words, they are either created from petty human emotions like love or to be experimental lab rats for some obsessive scientist. As a homunculus myself, I know this is not always true. I wasn't made by a loved one or an alchemist. Hell, I wasn't even dead to begin with. I was reborn.

I don't know if I am truly a homunculus, like the others are. Pride, Envy, Greed and Lust were reborn through a failed attempt of bringing someone back from the dead, like all of the alchemy books say they should be. I am a human-based homunculus. I hadn't died; I was injected with a Philosopher's Stone because the others needed wrath on their side. So that is who I became.

I am Wrath.

Lust, the Ultimate Spear; she can extend her fingers to inhuman lengths and use them against you as swords.

Envy, the Ultimate disguise; he/she can shape-shift into anything – whether it is people, animals or weapons.

Greed, the Ultimate Shield; his skin covers itself with some sort of black armor, impossible to penetrate.

Pride, the Ultimate Shadow; it's still unclear exactly what he does, but it's something along the lines of mind-control.

And then there's me, formally known as Romi Rockbell, the last one to join our little group. It isn't that I would have gotten to choose my power anyways; it comes with the name apparently. Wrath, the Ultimate Eye; I can see what people are going to do before they know they are going to do it themselves and have lightning quick reflexes to stop them. It's lame, if you ask me, but it isn't as bad as being Gluttony or Sloth.

"You people don't make any sense," I groaned, shifting my weight from one leg to another. "If you had enough of the Philosopher's Stone to inject me with, then why didn't you just use it against Edward and be done with it?"

"That wasn't our only stone. We aren't so stupid that we wouldn't think of that."

Of course they aren't… "And you're only objective is to get rid of Fullmetal? That's all you want?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "What is gonna happen afterwards?"

"You see, this is why I thought it was a bad idea," Lust interrupted. "Now we have to catch her up with everything we're planning! And how do we know that she isn't going to tell him? Fullmetal is her father, after all."

If Edward and I had actually come to good terms, she might have had a point. But we didn't so she just sounds like an idiot. "Lust, Lust, Lust," I breathed, shaking my head. "If you would just tell me what the hell is going on here then we wouldn't have any problems now, would we?"

"Ladies," Pride cut in, using his strange charm. I have only spent the last hour and a half with him and he already annoys me. "Lust, calm down. Wrath, you, erm, just stay quiet." I growled at him. "Let's split up for now, two teams. Whoever can handle putting up with Wrath for the next day goes with her and those who can't come with me." He glanced around at everyone. No responses.

"You're such a jerk!" I spat through my teeth.

"No one? Okay then, I'll babysit Wrath, you three start tracking Fullmetal." Pride pulled me along behind him down the sidewalk by my hair. Though I wouldn't look back, I could hear the others snickering behind me. They deserve to rot in hell. "You seem to be the popular one, now don't you?" he asked over his shoulder.

I crossed my arms, pulling away from him. "Oh, shut up."

"Hey, hey, now," he grit through his teeth warningly. "Do you really think it's a good idea to be talking like that?"

"You started it," I countered, soon feeling like a toddler. Damn, I wish I hadn't said that.

He chuckled, his violet eyes darkening. "You really need to learn to control that anger of yours that you're bottling up inside." The hell, Pride was mocking me! I raked through my hair angrily, twisting it around my fingertips. "Try and focus on your Ultimate Eye, why don't you?"

So I did. There wasn't anything special going on inside any of the buildings we were passing – it was well after midnight now so most humans were sleeping. Pride wasn't anything special either; he kept on his toes so I wouldn't be able to predict him. He did everything at the exact moment he thought it. Finally, we stalked past the hospital where I had been laying not so long ago. Then I picked up on several humans coming around the counter. There aura was so familiar, yet I couldn't pinpoint who they were.

"Both of you just need to _calm down_," a firm male voice said.

Another man snapped at him, "She's my daughter, she's in the hospital, and they just had to call us and say that she isn't well! How else would you like me to be reacting?"

"My baby, my poor baby," a woman sobbed. She was quieter than the other two but she was much easier to recognize.

They turned around the corner of the building just then. I tensed as Pride yanked my backwards, holding me back against his chest. It was Winry and Al and Fullmetal. This had to be either an uncanny stroke of luck or the worst possible outcome for this scenario.

"Romi!" Winry gasped upon seeing me. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Damn human! She dashed forwards for me, her arms open. I sprung to the side, away from Pride and barely escaping my 'mom's' grasp. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she sobbed.

"Winry, get back here!" Edward ordered sternly. "This isn't Romi!"

**Well, that took an unexpected turn. This should make it so much easier to keep writing! Yay! Anyways, it's about time I updated since I originally started this chapter a week ago. Oh well. Reviewers are loved! Adios!**


	16. falling into place ch3

**Falling into Place**

**Alright, people rock. This story has gotten more popular than I ever expected. Thank you guys so much! And, on top of that, I watched the first four episodes of the **_**Black Butler **_**English dub today so I am in a fairly good mood. Such a good series… Anyways, enough about me, on with the fanfic.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.**

Y'all know how that if you stare at a word on a page long enough it doesn't look like a word anymore? That's how I'm seeing my parents right now. It's not that they don't look like themselves, because they do, but they really aren't acting like themselves. Mom is acting completely desperate – as if that is going to win Ed back – and Edward is, well, just not handling it very well.

"Have they always been like this?" I asked Alphonse.

He turned to look over his shoulder from his place at the kitchen table. "Yeah, pretty much."

"And they were married?"

"Of course they were. How else would you be here?"

"I'm not an idiot. I know you don't have to be married to have kids."

"Winry goes by the book."

"And you would know?" Because that isn't strange at all!

Al shrugged. "She's been that way about everything since we were kids. Why would she change now?"

I sighed, "That's a good point." I guess I already knew that. If Mom didn't follow directions – or any sort of instruction/pattern for that matter – she always thought that whatever she was doing would be screwed up. She only recently started making free-range automail. I redirected my attention to the fight, which had been carrying on for the past forty-five minutes.

"And why shouldn't I get at least some custody of my daughter?" Ed demanded. "Tell me that, Winry. Once this is all over, I deserve to see Romi too!"

"I'm not saying that you can't see her–"

"–Yes you are. At least, you're saying that I can't see her without your discretion. She is my daughter too."

"You were M.I.A for twelve years. What makes you think that she even wants to be with you anymore?" Winry countered him, stomping her foot. My mother makes absolutely no sense, if I haven't mentioned before. It's ridiculous. "You're lucky that I even got her to meet you in the first place."

"I would have met her anyway!" Ed shot back at her. "C'mon now, Winry, you're being stubborn–"

"–Coming from you!" She began pacing in front of the kitchen table where Al and I sat, twisting her fingers around the end of her ponytail. Her eyes kept darting between Edward, me, and the floor.

Edward groaned, hiding his face in his hands. "Yes," he grit through his teeth, "Coming from me."

"Alphonse," I sighed. "Stop them? Please?"

He nodded. "Hey, Brother?" Alphonse asked, reaching out to tug on Ed's sleeve.

Ed snapped, "What, Al?"

"Don't we have a little bit more crucial things to be stressing over?" he asked. "I mean, not that Romi isn't important but there are still four homunculi running around Central. Shouldn't we be planning something to find them?"

My hand shot up, as if I was sitting in a classroom. "I'm with Al on this one!"

Edward's face fell, his eyes became very dark. It had to have been the saddest face I'd ever seen him make (it would have been the saddest face ever with the exception of Mom from so many years ago when she received the divorce papers in the mail). The room grew silent; it was an awkward, empty silence.

Ed was quick to break it. "Fine, Alphonse and I can head back to Central tomorrow. Winry, you can take Romi back to Rush Valley if you'd like," he mumbled under his breath. "Maybe I can get back to you two after everything's taken care of."

"_What do you mean that you're transferring me to the East?" Edward demanded, pounding his fists against the Fuhrer's desk._

_"Fullmetal, I know you are not that dense. You know _exactly _what I mean," Fuhrer Mustang said, rolling his eyes._

_Golden orbs widened with shock. "B-but I can't! I can't go to the East!"_

_"Yes you can, you know you can. You have all the skills required to look after the region, I see no reason not to send you out as soon as possible." Roy folded his hands on the top of his desk. He stared down at his hands, trying to hide his evil smirk._

_"The East is still recovering from the Ishvalen War!" the younger man protested._

_"That it is, that it is," Mustang sighed. "This is exactly why I am sending you to control the region. You're the only General I can trust with a job this serious. Now, that sad fact aside, I need you to pack your bags – you're leaving this coming weekend."_

_"I can't just pick up and leave–"_

_"I don't see why not."_

_"Because, unlike you, I have a wife and daughter waiting for me at home," Ed retorted. "It's still too soon to take Winry and Romi with me, even if it is just to East City. There are still riots there about what happened in Ishval."_

_Roy glared at him. "Those were years ago – long before Romi was born. It's perfectly safe for them to accompany you."_

_"No it isn't!"_

_"Fine then, be that way. If you insist that Winry and Romi stay here, than I have no choice but to send you there alone."_

_"I don't think so, you bastard!" Wood splintered as Edward slammed his fists onto the desk again._

_"You either go to East City without them or you're fired," Fuhrer Mustang said firmly, his dark eyes meeting Ed's._

_"Big deal!"_

_"What else do you think you can do to support your family if you aren't receiving money for your alchemy?"_

_Edward's glare sharpened. "Fine, I'll go."_

_"Have fun breaking it to her!"Roy called after him as Ed slammed the door behind him. "Winry will _love _hearing that!"_

**That's done. Woohoo! I apologize because that chapter was mostly dialog. I do feel that it cleared some things up though, which is always a good thing. Also, sorry if this ending sorta sucks. I'm writing it because a certain friend thinks its best to have some sort of happy ending for Romi since I explained what's going to happen in Poisoned Memories with great detail. *cough, cough* until I next update!**


	17. falling into place  the end

**Falling into Place**

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I know that not all readers celebrate this holiday but it is still a great time to think about all of the privileges y'all have in your lives. I wrote this chapter all today (I had a lot of free time before all of my family showed up) so I really hope it doesn't sound too rushed. This is the very end to the happy ending and I know it's out of order with the rest of the story but I had to get it done – I was in a good mood.**

**Disclaimer: This story is finally coming to an end…oh noes! But even afterwards I still own Romi. Unfortunately, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I never will.**

* * *

After everything that I've had to do in the past week I find it hard to believe that Mom is forcing me to act like nothing ever happened. Alphonse never came to take me with him to Central, I never met my father, and Pride-Hughes doesn't exist. I don't even think I know what a homunculus is anymore. Mom wants me to be normal teenager again – like that'll ever happen!

I thought that I didn't want to meet my dad. He had never been there for me growing up. He divorced my mom and left her heartbroken; I hated seeing her cry. But now that I have met him, I want to get to know him more. Edward was by far the coolest person that I have ever met. He and Al felt like official family now and they left without even saying goodbye. Be careful what you wish for, right?

I walked home as a part of the crowd, blending in with everyone else on the street. Walking among me were mothers pushing strollers, brawny men equip with every type of automail you can think of (legs, arms, eyes, feet, hands, even sections of their necks!), redneck looking teenagers – some of them I knew from school and others were complete strangers. Rush Valley was the worst place to live; it really, truly is.

Everything is depressing to me now. It may have only been a total of four and a half days spent with my dad, but being away from him now felt unnatural. I should have been doing something that I like, not hanging around geeks that I hate and end up as an automail mechanic like Mom wants me to be. I can do something better than that.

Slumping inside my mom's shop, I threw my book bag over the counter and wandered into the back room to find her constructing a new prosthetic limb. "Hey, sweetie," Mom greeted me. I was overcome with a strong sense of déjà vu when she didn't look up at me. "How was school today?"

_School was insanely boring. Almost everything reminded me of Ed and Al or the homunculi. It kills me being away from him. But then again…I'm sure you know that feeling all too well. _"It was fine," I answered. "I finally got to tell Ana what Edward was like. She was freaking out."

"That's good to hear," she mused, continuing to tinker with the automail leg in front of her. By the looks of it, she was almost finished. All the leg needed now was the top metal plates to protect the inner gears and screws. "How are the alchemy studies going?"

"They finished that lesson while I was gone," I told her, leaning against the shelf of perfected automail. This is what I like about Mom, she usually doesn't put being a parent first; she would rather be my best friend. "But Croms said I didn't have to make up the test because it was too advanced."

"'Croms'…?" Mom turned to look at me, her eyebrows raised.

"That's what Ana and I call Mrs. Cromly," I said. It was a stupid nickname for a teacher, I know, but it kinda stuck after Ana made the mistake of calling her that on the first day of school.

"Oh. I see."

"Yeah… Have you heard from Edward yet?" I asked impatiently.

Mom sighed. "Not directly, no. But Alphonse called yesterday to tell me that Hughes and the other homunculi have been taken care of."

My heart sped up with joy. "So this means that they are coming back to visit?" I asked excitedly, jittering.

Her eyes fell and her smile grew sad. "I'm sorry, Romi," she murmured. "Al also told me that Fuhrer Mustang transferred Ed to North City. He won't be coming home."

"…It's alright." I'm lying. I really, really need to stop lying. It isn't good for me. I wasn't looking forward to seeing him again anyways. If Edward doesn't come back to see me that's okay; he is a busy man. I'm sure that he has more important things to worry about than me. I should just move on. Yeah, just move on.

"Aw, I'm sorry, honey. I know how much you've come to like him," Mom apologized. I bit back a smart-ass comment; I know she lost both of her parents in the Ishvalen War when she was younger. "We can always call him, though."

"Yeah, I suppose we can."

"And all this coming from the girl who made such a big fuss over meeting her father in the first place," she remarked. She reached into the tool box to switch out her screw driver for a signature wrench.

I spat back at her, "Well, excuse me!"

"You are really unhappy here, aren't you?"

"Only a little… It's just so boring here! I don't like automail so everyone around here just gets on my nerves!"

"So you really were fine with being away from me for so long?" Mom and I haven't had to chance to talk like this since we got back from Risembool. She's been busy with catching up on automail orders and I have been catching up with school work.

I didn't want to answer her. Staying silent was better than lying to her face. "Yes."

"Hmm…"

"Are you mad?"

She shrugged, "Maybe a little."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine."

No, it isn't, I wanted to say to her. I know I said the wrong thing. I should learn to keep my mouth shut! "Um, I'll just go upstairs now…" I turned and hurried up the spiral staircase, rushing through our apartment until I reached my bedroom.

"Romi Trisha Alphonse Rockbell," he said, stepping out of my bedroom. "Now that I say it, maybe we should drop one of your names. It was so pretty at the time but now it's just a mouthful. What do you think?"

My heart stopped. My breath hitched in my throat. My cheeks paled as all of the blood drained from my face. I stared up in utter amazement at golden irises. "What are you doing here, Edward?"

"Ignoring your mother's orders not to see you," Ed answered, beaming proudly.

"Not that it isn't great to see you and all, but what are you _really _doing here?" I repeated.

"She called Al saying that you were depressed ever since you got home," he chuckled. "Now, I know it's boring here and that the life of a State Alchemist is nice, but you can't just complain to your mom nonstop about how badly you want to leave Rush Valley."

I blushed furiously. "Way to not make me feel guilty!"

"Sorry. I'm sure that Winry has told you that I've been transferred to North City for the next year, right?" he asked, I nodded. "Okay then. What would you say to coming up there with us?"

What did he just say? My lungs compressed, I was loosing air. Was he really asking me – a useless fourteen-year-old – to do that? "I'm sorry, what?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Al and I would really love to have you with us. Winry says she can come up to visit whenever you need her. We can get you a private tutor for school and we can start with some alchemy lessons. Plus – and this is according to your mother – you can see your first white Christmas. What do you say?"

I blinked rapidly several times. He seemed to have everything that we needed to cover planned out. "Um, sure, I guess – as long as it is really okay with you two and Mom."

"Of course it is!"

_I rested my forehead against the icy glass of the window, finally allowing myself to relax. After fourteen years of life, this is the first holiday that really felt special. Everyone had come to visit Edward, Alphonse and I in North City this year, giving me a real sense of family. I gaze over my shoulder at Mom, Ed, and Al; they sat around the far end of the dinner table playing some sort of card game. Alphonse appeared to be winning and Ed didn't like it. In the far corner of our large living room sat Fuhrer Mustang and his wife, Riza, curled up together on the loveseat. Ana and her parents had just left, after only staying for a few hours, but it was still nice to see them. I think it was the perfect way to end this chapter of my life – not that the rest of it will be that interesting anyways._

**Well, there you have it folks, the ending to Falling into Place. I feel very proud of myself for doing this – even though I opted against this ending. I hope you liked it!**


	18. poisoned memories the end

**Poisoned Memories**

**Nothing much to be said right now other than: It's the end. This is it. And, I really hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

All eyes were glued to me. They were all going to start yelling – with the exception of Alphonse who was going to stay quiet. Pride began barking orders at me to move, to kill them, to do something besides stand there. But I couldn't bring myself to do anything. Did I really have it in me to kill them? I mean, there were still my parents after all.

"Godammit, Hughes!" Ed exclaimed, transmuting his automail into a blade. To anyone else, it would have looked like the end. To me, it looked like a cheap trick that I could probably snap in half. Whether or not I wanted to try I was still debating. He lunged for Pride, slicing his shoulder with the blade. Red sparks flew as Pride healed himself, almost automatically.

"Edward!" Winry screamed. She wiped the tears from her eyes furiously. "Edward, stop that!"

Ed stepped back, breathing hard. He was looking apologetically at Mom but didn't transmute his arm back to normal. I glanced up at Pride, who was glaring at me, and realized that just standing there made me look even more idiotic than I felt. Before I could shift my gaze again, Pride had one of his Ultimate Shadows coiled around my neck. "Kill them or I'll kill you," he breathed against my ear.

I hoped that no one else had heard it; that could have allowed me to just run off like the coward I am. But they did. Mom's eyes grew wide, still glossy with tears. Alphonse tensed, clenching his hands into fists – I hadn't ever seen him like that. Edward was the worst; he lunged again, only this time he purposely missed Pride. He slashed the shadows in half from around my neck and pulled me down to the ground in front of his feet as he retreated back to Al and Mom.

I looked at Pride again, he scowled at me. With three swift punches he had Edward on his knees before him. My eyes grew wide in horror as various splotches of blood began to soak through Ed's clothes and hair. Despite being injured, he got back up on his feet, ready to fight. The next time I peered up, the automail blade in place of my father's arm had sliced through Pride's core. I could see the Philosopher's Stone inside of him turning to dust. How?

"Alphonse, help me get Romi out of here," Mom ordered, slipping her hands under my arms in attempt to help me get up. I tried to shake her off, mesmerized as Edward trudged back panting. Al just stared at me, his eyes fogged with worry. "Al, help me!"

"Winry, what good is this going to do for her?" he countered softly. Alphonse helped his brother to stand up straight, letting him rest on his shoulder for support. Age doesn't do anything for you, I suppose. "How could we get her back to normal?"

Ed groaned, "We can't. Hughes…injected her…with the Philosopher's Stone."

Mom pulled me closer to her chest, wrapping her arms around me protectively. _So much for a happy ending, _I thought as my eyelids drooped. I couldn't have moved a single muscle in my body if I had wanted to. "What are you suggesting, Edward?" she demanded, a strand of her hair falling into my face.

Edward opened his mouth to explain but Al shushed him. "The only thing we could do for her now is human transmutation. And even that will not be a sure success – it might not work to begin with and if on some stroke of luck it did, someone could end up in a suit of armor again," he sighed. "Are we willing to risk that again?"

Mom's tears started back up. "This is our daughter, you're niece, whom you are talking about here, Alphonse!" she scolded. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? I don't think that we have a choice here!"

"Winry," Edward croaked, "Listen to yourself. Human transmutation isn't even in question here. Besides, there are only theories on how to turn a human into a homunculus not how to turn a homunculus into a human! I wouldn't know what to do!" His voice was painful to listen to.

"Edward, please!"

I didn't know what to say other than, "You guys, I'm done for. Stop arguing."

"Romi!" Mom sobbed. "Don't you dare say that!"

"Why not?" I asked. "If I live then I am only going to end up as some kind of lab rat for a sick and twisted scientist who's working for the military. Besides, you shouldn't want a homunculus for a child anyways. It just isn't right!"

"Romi!" Ed growled hoarsely under his breath.

"Teacher would probably take her in, no questions asked," Alphonse muttered. "She is probably the only one who would know how to look after Romi now. What do you say, Brother? Winry?"

"Teacher?" the two echoed.

Al nodded, "Yes, Teacher."

"That might just work out," they decided.

_At first, living in Dublith was hell. Pure hell. Izumi, Ed and Al's teacher from before Dad became a State Alchemist, classified me as an unworthy student right off the bat. She put together the hardest training sets and set me up with the toughest of opponents just to see what it would take for me to crack. I hated every damn minute of it but put up with it because Dad said giving up in front of her would get me the biggest ass-whopping of my life._

_By the end of winter though, I heard her gushing to her husband and to anyone else who listened about how amazing of a student I was. Of course, they all asked who I was and why I was so great. Izumi and I were the only ones who knew the truth; that I had been injected with the Philosopher's Stone and turned into a homunculus. So naturally, she had to lie to whoever asked. The only answer Teacher ever gave out was: "Oh, Romi? She's Edward Elric's daughter."_

**WOOHOO! Thumbs up if you like that ending way better than…oh wait, you don't even know what I was going to write. Well, all you need to know was that the ending took a completely different route than what I had planned. It was cheerier than what I wanted but I'm in a good mood today so I figured it shouldn't be a sad ending, but it shouldn't be that happy either. I really hope y'all liked it! Until my next fanfic, au revoir! (I'm not giving up on my French skills!)**


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